The Other Moon Princess
by Lady Dawson
Summary: There was another Princess of the Moon Kingdom that people had forgotten about, the lost twin sister of Princess Serena. But when Anna Ryder starts to search for the meaning of a recurring dream, she will face her past and destiny. Complete.
1. Dreams of Past

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter One: Dreams of Past

_She could see the beautiful kingdom crumbling as she scrambled out of the way to avoid a piece of debris that was falling. Her beautiful kingdom, the one that she had been born into and had grown up in, was being destroyed. And all because of the forces of darkness. _

_"Annalise!" _

_Turning, she saw her true love, her beloved fiancé, racing towards her, his green eyes wide with fear and relief as he saw her. _

_"Chris!" she whispered, clinging to him as he reached her at last. "Why is this happening?" _

_"I don't know!" he cried, holding her tightly. He was looking paler than his usual pale. "I don't know, Anna . . ." She could feel him trembling as they held on to one another. "Great stars, Annalise, I thought that I had lost you," he whispered, "I couldn't find you anywhere." _

_She didn't need to tell him that she had feared the same thing. The redheaded woman was destroying everything in her path with her army of the Negaverse. So much had already happened . . . and she knew that the Moon Kingdom would never again live to see the next sunrise. In her heart, she knew that everything would soon be destroyed. _

_Shivering slightly, she whimpered slightly when she saw a blast hit the palace, the very heart of the Moon. "No!" she shouted, her heart skipping a beat as she saw it. Her fiancé's head jerked towards the sight, horror rising into his green eyes. Ignoring his cry to stop, she hitched up her skirts and raced towards the scene. "Serena!" she shouted, trying to find the other moon princess and the queen. "Mother!" _

_Just as she managed to reach the remnants of the palace, she heard a shout of alarm coming from Chris. As she turned, she saw her love rise through the air before dropping onto the ground, motionless. _

_"NO!" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. _Not him, too,_ she thought in horror as she raced towards her fallen sweetheart, kneeling down beside him. "Chris, please," she whispered as his green eyes looked up at her, filled with pain. "Don't leave me. I need you." _

_"Whatever may happen," Chris gasped, his voice strained and forced. "Know . . . that my heart has always belonged to you . . . and always will be, Anna, my love . . . my _life_ . . ." _

_"And mine will always be yours," she choked, burying her face into his chest. "Always and forever." Chris nodded once, his hand becoming limp in hers as she held it. _

_She sobbed even harder as she clung her dead love's body to her. Even before the evil queen's minions hovered over her, she knew that she was going to join him. But she had one last thing to do. _

_Clutching the glittering necklace that she always wore around her neck, she held it up to the sky, closing her eyes. "Whatever happens," she wished, as the evil beings stood behind her, raising their weapons before the eldest princess, "let us find a way back to each other. Let us be together once more, in our future life, so that we may find a way to be together." _

_But Princess Annalise didn't even flinch as the weapons were brought down upon her and she was hit in the stomach by the evil energy that came from dark magic. All she did was hold on to her love, praying that they would find a way back to each other . . . _

With her teeth gritted tightly together to prevent herself from screaming, Anna Ryder sat up straight, looking wildly around her as she gasped in fear of the dream she'd just had. It was only when she had seen that she wasn't in any danger, that she was safe in her own room, that she lay back down, relaxing somewhat.

Running her hands through her light brown hair, Anna tried to calm down so that her heartbeat would return to normal, but her mind kept flashing back to the dream.

For all of her fifteen years, Anna dreamed the same dream every night, always the same. A kingdom on the moon being destroyed . . . a young man being killed before her . . . herself being slain as she wept at the young man's demise . . . but what did it mean?

Anna had tried to discover the true meaning of her dream, what it meant, and why she was dreaming it, but she didn't know what to look for. Whatever that kingdom was only existed in her dreams. There were theories, certainly, that people had lived on the moon, but none had ever been proven. Many scientists disagreed that anybody could live on it, being that there was no atmosphere on the moon.

All the same, she knew that her dream meant something. After fifteen years of having the same recurring dream, it had to mean something. The only question was, what did it mean?

She was certain that she was about to stumble on something important. The dream had never been this vivid before, in all of her life. Which, to Anna anyway, meant that she was going to figure something out, something important. It was only a question of when.

"Anna!" her mother called up the stairs. "Better get a move on! You're going to be late!"

The short brunette girl glanced down at the clock and silently chided herself for daydreaming so long. Or was it morning-dreaming, this early? she thought humourlessly as she climbed out of bed.

Climbing into the school uniform for her first day at the new school, Anna quickly brushed out her hair, letting it hang free as her usual hairstyle, only kept back by a headband that didn't stop her bangs from hanging into her sky-blue eyes. With a quick glance in the mirror, Anna hurried down the stairs, taking two at a time, before heading towards the breakfast table.

"Morning, Mom," she said, glancing around the table. "Where's Ben and Will?" she questioned, noting the absence of her elder two brothers.

"They've already gone ahead," her mother answered with a sigh. "You're running unusually late this morning, Anna, dear. Anything the matter? Are you having strange dreams again?" Her mother looked worried as she said this.

When she was younger, she used to tell her mother about the dreams, but that had only resulted in her being taken to a shrink. _Not_ something that she wanted a repeated of. Which was why she kept her dreams to herself nowadays.

"No, Mom, I just had trouble getting moving this morning," she answered, helping herself to a piece of toast.

"Well, I'll just have to drive you on my way to work. I don't want you late on your first day in a new town. Just promise me that you won't make this a habit of yours," she added warningly. Anna nodded, her mouth full and not wanting to make a spectacle of herself. "Good girl."

Anna ate as fast as she could and five minutes later, she was in the car, heading towards Crossroads Junior High. As soon as she climbed out onto the sidewalk, her mother took off without so much as a goodbye.

With a small sigh, Anna turned towards the entrance, heading inside. Ever since her father had left, it had been one thing after another with her mother. Now she rarely even paid attention to her children, when she was even home, anyway.

"Well, here's day one on the alien planet," she sighed as she headed inside, explaining to the teacher who she was.

Ms. Haruna introduced her to the class and said a little about herself, before looking around the classroom. "Now, Anna, where shall we seat you?" she said, more to herself than to the new student standing awkwardly beside her, frowning around the full classroom.

Anna noticed the door open slightly and someone snuck into the class, her blond pigtails giving her away. Biting her lip to hide a smile, Anna saw that the teacher immediately scowled.

"Late again, Serena?" she asked. The girl—Serena—jumped and winced as she pulled herself into full view, revealing herself to be a short girl around Anna's age of fourteen with long blonde pigtails that fell all the way to her knees. Her eyes were a wide, sky-blue colour. If Anna had looked any closer, then she would've seen they were in the exact shape and colour as her own.

Shaking her head in exasperation, Ms. Haruna sighed. "As much as I hate to do this, why don't you sit behind Serena?" she told Anna. The brunette girl smiled vaguely before heading to sit in the vacant seat behind Serena, taking her books out for the day.

But she had the distinct feeling, somewhere in the back of her head, that she had, somewhere and someway, met Serena before. There was just something about her that made Anna feel like she knew her, but couldn't remember where from.

Anna suppressed a sigh as she turned her attention from the blonde girl and towards the lesson. She always learned things when she was ready to hear them. And she had no doubt that when she was ready, she would learn the truth about Serena and her dream.

But she had no way of knowing that the two were connected.

--

She was on her way home that same day when she headed into the diner where her brother was working at, ordering a soda. Ben brought it to her before asked, "So how was the first day?"

"As usual," Anna said with a shrug, running her hands through her light brown hair, tugging on it absently. "What time did Mom say that she was going to be getting home?"

"Around seven, which means that we'll be fending for ourselves tonight," Ben responded, rolling his eyes. "You know, I think ever since Dad left, we haven't had a proper meal. By the way, it'll just be us tonight. Will has some dates lined up later, so he'll be out on the town."

"Dates? As in plural?" Anna questioned, arching her eyebrows. "When is going to stop that multiple dating thing and settle down with someone?" Her older brother was the king of the multiple dating scenario and hadn't dated one girl for almost four years. It drove Anna crazy and from what she could tell, Ben wasn't too thrilled with it either.

"I don't know, but the sooner that he gets out of this phase, the better," he said now. "Anna, I'd love to talk more about our brother and his lunacy, but I got to get back to work. See you later."

"Bye," Anna said lightly as he disappeared around the corner to go clean the tables out in the diner. She shook her head, wondering how she had survived living with two brothers, and headed out of the diner through the arcade.

As she was leaving, she heard voices talking in the corner and saw a group of five girls chattering in the backyard. Actually, four of them were chatting, one of them was playing away on the video game next to her friends as they talked quietly.

The sole member of the video playing Anna recognised immediately. Serena Tsukino, from school. The other four girls were undoubtedly friends of hers, but she only recognised two of them. Surely the other two went to different schools. Anna had a habit of recognising people and she was sure that she hadn't seen the two today at school.

Almost as if she sensed Anna's gaze, the dark-haired girl looked around, her dark eyes narrowing slightly as she met Anna's sky-blue ones. Shaking her head, Anna headed out the door, running into a little girl outside.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!" she exclaimed as she helped the pink-haired girl up. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," the girl said, looking up at her. She smiled up at Anna, who couldn't help but smile back. "It's okay, I wasn't paying much attention either. I'm Rini, who are you?" Her brown eyes were studying Anna, as if trying to place her.

"Anna Ryder, nice to meet you," Anna answered with a smile. "Rini, that's not a name that you hear too often."

"I was named after my mom," Rini explained just as the arcade doors opened and Serena Tsukino appeared.

"Rini, where have you been?" she asked, getting hold of the little girl. "I thought you were supposed to be here a half an hour ago."

"No, I just told you that so you would be here when I got here," Rini said with a mischievous smile. "Otherwise, I would've been waiting for half an hour for you to get here."

Serena glared at her before looking up at Anna. "Sorry if she caused you any trouble. It's Anna, right?"

"Yeah, you're Serena," Anna answered. "And don't worry, your sister wasn't any trouble." She assumed this was her sister because the two girls looked so much alike, right down to the bun hairstyle.

"Cousin," Serena said weakly. The two girls exchanged looks and then looked back at Anna. "She's my cousin."

"Oh. Sorry," Anna said, biting her lip in embarrassment.

"It's okay," Rini said, grinning. "You won't believe how many times we get that a day."

"We _don't_ look that much alike," Serena scowled at her, placing her hands on her hips.

Rini only grinned and Anna chuckled slightly. "Well, I'd better get home. It was a pleasure to meet you, Rini. And I'll see you tomorrow, Serena," she added to the blonde girl. Turning on her heel, she headed down the street, leaving the other girls behind.

But she could shake the feeling in the back of her head that somewhere, somehow, she had known Serena Tsukino from somewhere. And she felt like she knew Rini, too, but it wasn't nearly a strong as it was with her cousin.

Suppressing a sigh, she glanced up towards the sky, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. Who were these two girls and why did she have the feeling that they were connected with her dreams?

Only destiny would tell.


	2. Making New Friends

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Two: Making New Friends

Anna was headed out into the courtyard for lunch when a loud voice called, "Anna! HEY, ANNA!"

Looking around, she saw Serena waving towards her, along with two girls that she had seen at the arcade the day before with her. With a smile towards the blonde, Anna headed over to the girls, carrying her lunch and schoolbag. "Hi, Serena," she said.

"Hey, why don't you eat lunch with us?" she asked, instantly making room for the other girl.

"Are you sure?" Anna asked cautiously, glancing towards the other two girls. "I don't want to intrude . . ."

"Don't be ridiculous," the brunette said, waving her rejection aside. "Besides, Serena won't give up until you say yes, anyway. She's really stubborn. But a good friend," she added. "I'm Lita Kino, by the way. This is Amy Mizuno."

"Anna Ryder," she said politely as she took a seat with the other girls. "So who were the other two girls that I saw you guys with yesterday."

"Those were our friends Raye Hino and Mina Aino," Amy answered as they started eating lunch. "They both go to other schools."

"Yeah, I though so," Anna mused. "I mean, I've got a habit of remembering people and I was sure that I hadn't seen them at school earlier when I saw them yesterday."

"So how come you moved to Crossroads?" Lita asked. "Your mom and dad get transferred or something?" Instantly, the mention of her father made Anna flinch slightly. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked, wincing slightly. "Sorry . . ."

"Don't worry about it, it's okay," Anna said gruffly. "My dad left about five years ago, when I was nine. I don't remember too much about him, to be honest. What I do remember is his back as he walked out the door. And my mom moved us here because she was fired from her old job and had moved out here because she's got a friend who offered her a job at her office." She shrugged. "Mom's been a real case ever since Dad left."

"That's awful," Amy sympathised. "My parents got divorced when I was really young. I can relate."

"Thanks, but I'm over it." Anna shook her head. In truth, she didn't really care about her father that much anymore or even gave him much thought. Her father didn't care about her enough to stay around, so why should she care about him?

"Well, how's Crossroads been treating you?" Serena asked, seeming to sense the need to change the subject.

"It's all right. You guys are the first people to make an effort to know me, though," Anna said as she popped a piece of fruit into her mouth. "Everyone else has been keeping their distance."

"Yeah, that's because reputations get around fast in this place," Serena said, shaking her head. "You want to hang out after school today? Rini's dragging us to this planetarium with her friend Hotaru for this astronomy show. We'd like for you to come, if you want."

Anna hesitated. It was the first time that she had ever been invited to spend any time with somebody, not to mention it _did_ sound really cool, but . . . "I don't know, I'll have to call my brothers and ask permission, but I'm pretty sure it'll be okay. Let me give them a quick call after school, okay?"

"Sure, no problem," Lita said. "You got brothers?" she added, raising her eyebrows in interest. "How old are they?"

"Ben's eighteen and Will's sixteen," Anna said, shaking her head. "And trust me, you do not want to get involved with either one of them. Ben's okay, I guess, but he's . . . well, he practically had to sacrifice his own childhood to help raise us after Dad left."

"You're biased, though," Lita said cheerfully. "Sisters always have a lower opinion of their brothers than other people."

Anna couldn't help but chuckle at that remark, but shook her head, grinning slightly. She had the feeling that these girls were going to make some pretty good friends.

--

Walking with the other girls after school after getting permission from Ben to go to the show, Anna was greeted with a surprisingly big hug from Rini when she saw her. Anna was surprised, but not displeased by the gesture. "Good to see you, too, Rini," she said, smiling as the little girl let her go. "How you been?"

"Okay," she answered. "Come on, let's go, we have to go meet Hotaru! Hurry up, Serena!" she complained as she skipped down the path.

"That cousin of yours sure has a lot of energy," Anna commented as she walked with Serena. "How come she stays with you, anyway? Where are her parents at?"

Serena seemed to tense at the question. "Oh, well . . . uh . . . they live _really_ far away and they wanted Rini to come here so that she could have a nice and normal childhood," she explained. "She couldn't exactly get that where she's from."

"Why? Are her parents spies or something?"

"No," Rini said as she hurried back and overheard them talking. "They're the King and Queen of the Earth in the 30th century of Crystal Tokyo." She was grinning as Anna chuckled, her mind marvelling at the little girl's wild imagination. It was amazing that Rini was able to come up with something like that on the spot. Most girls her age wouldn't be able to come up with something like that without thinking twice about it.

"There's Hotaru!" Rini shouted, racing ahead to a dark haired girl was walking down the street. She was wearing if Anna wasn't mistaken, a Mugan School uniform. "Hotaru!"

"Hey, there, Rini," Hotaru said with a smile at her younger friend. "I got your letter."

As the two girls chattered, Anna glanced up towards the sky, which was a bright blue today, with almost no clouds. It was the perfect day to be out with friends, enjoying themselves.

Just as the girls were about to head off to the planetarium, Anna bumped into someone. "Oh, excuse me," she said politely to the young man who had run into her.

"No problem," he answered as he moved out of the way to let her by. She glanced back at him just as he looked back towards her, frowning slightly.

He was much taller than Anna was, towering over her 4'11" height considerably, but lanky. He had dark brown hair that fell casually into his emerald green eyes, sparkling as the sun hit them as he watched Anna. There was something about him that . . . Anna wasn't sure, but she felt her heart quicken slightly as she stared straight into his green eyes. It just felt so . . . right. As though she knew him, from another time and place.

"Yo! Chris! Hurry it up, man!" another voice yelled. The young man—Chris—broke the trance that the two were in and hurried away, glancing back once at Anna, who had frozen when she heard the name.

"Chris?" she mumbled, her mind flashing back to the dream. As she was thrust back into the dream, she once again saw the young man dying in her arms, telling her that he loved her. And as she looked towards him, she realised that this Chris and the Chris that had been in her dream were identical. Even their names were the same.

Could it be possible? she wondered.

"Hey, Anna?" Serena appeared beside her, startling her out of her musings. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she said, forcing a smile. "Nothing, I'm fine." She shook her head to clear it. "Come on, let's go, we'll be late for the show." With one last glance back towards Chris, only to discover that he had vanished, Anna followed Serena and her friends as they hurried towards the planetarium.

It was remarkable they were able to get seats, Anna thought as they bought tickets and got inside. Every seat was packed as they squeezed into their places.

Anna listened to the stories that the narrator was telling as he projected the celestials across the screen. It had been a very long time since she had done this with anybody, she mused. Ever since their parents had split up, Ben and Will hadn't exactly done anything to hang out with her and their mother was working too much to even so much as think about hanging out with any of her children.

Suddenly, Serena glanced around behind them. Anna turned to see what she was looking at and saw a dark green haired young woman standing in the back, looking straight at the girls. "Trista," Serena muttered. She glanced at Anna. "We'll be right back."

Anna nodded, considering following them to see what was going on, but something stopped her. She let them pass before she sat down besides Rini and Hotaru again, but she kept stealing glances behind her to see what the girls were talking with this Trista about, but they were out of sight.

Just as she was about to go find them, a woman with blonde hair stood up and opened up a suitcase. Although she couldn't say how, she shouted, "Get down!" and yanked Rini and Hotaru down beneath the seats.

She glanced up as another woman appeared and attacked the narrator while the first one sent the audience to sleep with stars coming out a wand. Anna covered her ears to prevent her eardrums from exploding and shouted, "Rini, Hotaru, follow me!"

She hurried towards the back of the stadium, attempting to get the girls out to safety, but the door was locked. "Bats!" she shouted, borrowing Ben's favourite swearword as she pushed the girls behind her just as the first woman—if that's what she was because Anna was seriously doubting _that_.

"Stay away from them!" a voice shouted. Anna glanced up and her heart jumped into her throat as she stared at the new arrivals.

Because as she looked up, the five arrivals that had appeared were none other than the Sailor Scouts!


	3. Chris Evans

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Three: Chris Evans

Anna ducked as the blonde woman disappeared and leaving her accomplice to finish the job, noticing that Hotaru had was having trouble breathing. The brunette wrapped a comforting arm around her as she glanced towards Rini, who was getting to her feet.

"I'm going to go get some help," Rini whispered as she hurried away, but was stopped by one of the Sailor Scouts. This one was older and had short, light brown hair.

Glancing around the planetarium, Anna shielded her eyes as the woman who was battling the scouts shot stars through the ceiling, attempting to bring Saturn closer. With every star that was shot through, Anna noticed that Hotaru seemed to be suffering even more.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, but the dark haired girl didn't answer, clutching her chest tightly.

She couldn't stand this; she had to something to help her, but what? What could she possibly do? Her pain was growing with each star that was shot through the ceiling.

"Where did the others go?" she muttered as she got to her feet, looking around for Serena and her friends. But they seemed to have disappeared right before the monster had attacked.

"Get down!" the scout who had stopped Rini barked.

Anna didn't hesitated. She dropped back down just as a star shot right towards where she had been standing moments before. Her eyelids fluttered closed as her mind flashed back to another time, another place, the one that she had dreamed of for so long. But this was not of the day that the moon had been destroyed; rather it was one of just before . . .

_Anna stared at the man who had been her caretaker for so long, the one she had loved like a father, the one who had raised her and comforted her through her tears and rejoiced in her delight. _

_"A princess?" she echoed sharply, not at all sure if she had heard him right. "What do you mean, I'm a princess? Tristan?" She stared in a mixture of confusion and shock at her caretaker. _

_Tristan sighed, running a hand through his greying hair. "I never expected to live long enough to tell you this," he murmured. "But now that the time has come, you must learn everything, Anna." _

_"What do you mean?" _

_"About your parents, your past . . ." But his voice was echoing slightly, disappearing along with the fog. _

With a soft gasp, Anna lifted her head, her hands clutching her bangs tightly as she whimpered slightly. "What is happening to me?" she whispered. But her question remained unanswered as she saw that Hotaru was standing some feet away, a purple glow appearing around her and a symbol appearing on her forehead.

The symbol of Saturn.

Anna let out an exclamation as Sailor Moon destroyed the monster with a wand and a crystal of sorts was returned to the narrator. She shivered slightly, not sure whether or not to be impressed by this feat or not. But almost instantly, she was distracted by the older three scouts, who had appeared moments after the first five had, released an attack, each of them aiming towards Hotaru.

"Uranus World Shaking!"

"Neptune Deep Submerge!"

"Pluto Deadly Scream!"

Rini let out a shriek, racing towards her friend and shielding her from the attack. "No! Hotaru!" she shrieked, not backing down, even as the attacks swarmed ever so closer.

Acting on purely instinct, Anna ran towards the two girls, Sailor Moon right behind her, and pushed them both out of the way, barely having enough time to get out of the way herself.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded once the blast had been cleared and she'd regained her composure. "She's just a child!" Her sky-blue eyes were glaring furiously at the other three.

"Get away from her!" Uranus shouted, looking extremely furious at the interruption. Anna guessed it had more to do with the fact that she was interfering with their plans. After all, this had absolutely nothing to do with her, right? "Hotaru is Sailor Saturn herself, the soldier of destruction, whose guardian star is Saturn."

"When her ruler, Saturn, awakens," Neptune continued.

"Her only goal will be to destroy the world," Pluto finished up.

"Get away!" Uranus snapped. "She is wielding the silence inside. Her powers are peaking!"

"It's absolutely crucial that we not let her wake up," Pluto said firmly, her eyes on the unconscious girl next to the Sailor Scouts. Anna sighed, wishing she knew what was going on here. If she did, then she might be able to understand it better.

"If Saturn wakes up, then she'll bring about the end of the world," Neptune added.

"That may be, but I won't let you harm her," Sailor Moon told them.

"Even if Hotaru is Sailor Saturn _or_ the Sovereign of Silence, she can't help it and we really have to protect her," Sailor Mars added.

"She's just an innocent girl! We have to help her!" Rini said, looking pleadingly towards Pluto. The older girl's eyes softened slightly as she watched the young girl. "There's got to be another way to save the world!"

"Maybe you're right, little lady," Neptune said kindly. "There may be another way, but . . ."

"We just don't know what it is yet," Pluto agreed quietly.

"All we know is that we have to keep her from waking up until the eclipse is over with; it's the only way to save the world." Uranus had lost her fury at last and was looking sadly at Rini.

Anna frowned slightly; all of this seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it . . .

"She's disappearing!" Rini suddenly shrieked. Anna looked around as Hotaru disappeared in a flash of purple.

"Her guardians took her back!" Mercury murmured.

Uranus growled. "We lost her!"

Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Anna was there, she noticed as she got to her feet, sliding out of the theatre and out of sight, taking deep breaths as she broke out into the bright sunlight, revelling everything that she had just witnessed. A part of her felt disappointed that none of them had even so much as noticed she'd vanished, but she couldn't understand why.

--

Stepping into the bookstore, Anna let herself wander around the store, gazing at the used books that had collected themselves onto the shelves. Books had always been her passion and she never passed up an opportunity to look around a bookstore.

As she stopped at the mythology section, she caught sight of a thick book that was so old that it looked like it was going to come apart in her hands. Nevertheless, it managed to stay together as she picked it up and stared down at the title.

_"Ancient Legends of the Moon, Stars, and Planets_," she read aloud, flipping through the thick book in interest. It was plenty worn, but it was only 75 cents, for crying out loud! And who knew? There might be something in here to help her to understand her dreams.

"If you're into mythology, we just got a shipment in," someone interrupted her thoughts. Startled, she looked up.

To her absolute amazement, standing right next to her was the boy she had run into earlier, the one that she was certain was the boy from her dream! For a moment, she was unable to articulate words; her tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of her mouth.

He seemed to recognise her immediately. "Hey, you're that girl that I ran into earlier today," he said with a smile.

Anna managed to pry her tongue from her mouth as she nodded. "Yeah, I'm Anna," she told him. "Anna Ryder, I just moved here." The hands that were gripping the book seemed to grow slippery as she stared up into his green eyes that stared right into her sky-blue eyes. Those bright, green orbs seemed to stare right down into her soul.

"I'm Chris Evans," he said with a grin, holding his hand out. Anna smiled back, and took it, feeling as though her body had received an electrical jolt as her hand touched his. Certainly, her heart was beating faster than it usual was.

"Yeah, I know. I heard your friend call you earlier," Anna answered, then chided herself. _Nice, Anna. A real conversation starter._

"Tobey, you mean?" Chris questioned, glancing over at the counter. Anna looked and saw a redheaded guy standing at the counter, scanning some books. At his name, he glanced over towards the two teenagers. When he spotted Anna, he grinned slightly at Chris, who rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Ignore him," he said dryly. "He can get a bit full of himself when he wants to. Anyway, we got a shipment in the back if you want to take a look through it."

"Am I allowed?" Anna asked, frowning slightly.

"Don't worry about it. My dad owns the place. Which means that I'm partly the owner," he added with a grin, ushering her through the back door. Anna didn't mind; she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as he led her through the stock room with his arm firmly clasped around her wrist.

"So, what exactly are you into?" Chris questioned as she flipped through the books that he was showing her. "King Arthur, Greek heroes?"

"Got anything on astrology legends?" Anna questioned, looking towards him as she continued looking through the array of books. There wasn't any kind of filing system for it. Not that she was surprised, since nobody had exactly sorted through yet. She was actually kind of surprised that Chris was letting her look through it.

"Yeah," Chris answered.

He dug through the box and produced two books, one entitled _Moon Myths and Legends_ and the other one _Heroes and Heroines Across the Stars_.

"Here you go," he said, handing them over. "Dad hasn't really gone through them yet, but . . ." He inspected them and seemed to deduce the worth of the books. "It'll come to about three bucks, for all three."

"I'll take them!" Anna said with a grin. Chris grinned back and the two headed back into the store, where Chris took the books on the counter and punched in some buttons. She handed him three dollars and he put them into the register.

"Here you go," he said, handing her a bag with the three books in it. "Say, are you doing anything right now?" he asked.

Anna shook her head. "Just heading home and have dinner with my brothers, but they won't be home for a couple of hours," she answered.

"You want to wait around?" he questioned. "I'll be getting off in about ten minutes and we could go get a soda somewhere . . ."

With a small smile, Anna nodded. "Yeah, I would like that," she said.

"Good," Chris said, grinning. "I know a little place down the street. Ten minutes, okay?"

"All right," Anna said, smiling as she headed through the store again. She _really_ hoped that her heart was stop beating so fast by the time that he was getting off work. But it seemed to do that whenever she looked into those green eyes of his . . .


	4. Past Memories, Present Problems

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Four: Past Memories, Present Problems

"So your dad had you put into Mugan School?" Anna questioned, frowning slightly. "I thought that school was really hard to get into. That's what I've heard, anyway."

"Yeah, but my mom was friends with the owner for years before she died. She was actually one of his partners on this project that they were working on when the building exploded. Mom didn't make it." Chris's voice shook ever so slightly. "Dr. Tomoe and his daughter were the only ones to survive that day."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a long time ago." Chris leaned back in his chair. His voice had gone emotionless for a moment as his eyes flickered skywards. "I know this might sound strange, Anna, but have we possibly met before? Because I have the strangest feeling, like I know you from somewhere, but I can't remember where from."

Anna sighed. "Yeah, I've got that feeling, too, but I don't know where we could've. Until I moved here, I'd never been out here."

"And I've never been out of Tokyo," Chris mused, running a hand through his dark hair. "Well, maybe we met in another life or something."

Although she were thinking the same thing, Anna only smiled and said nothing, taking another sip of her soda. "Yeah, maybe, but honestly, how often would that happen?" she asked. Chris grinned and shrugged.

"Just a thought," he responded. "So what got you interested in astrology legends, anyway?" he asked, nodding towards the bag that he'd given her at the store a few hours ago. The two had been talking at the café he'd mentioned ever since then.

"I don't know," she admitted, uncertain whether or not to tell him about her dreams. "It just . . . feels so familiar, you know? I don't know what it is, but there's something about the moon and stars that draws me ever so closer. I can't explain it."

"Yeah," Chris said softly. Something flickered behind his eyes and he glanced down at his watch and cursed. "I'm late! Dad's gonna kill me!" he moaned, reaching for some money to pay the waitress with. Anna reached for her purse, but he waved it aside. "Don't worry about it, I've got this one."

"I'd feel really bad for letting you pay for mine, though," Anna protested. It wasn't like they were on a date or anything.

"It's all right," Chris said, giving her a smile that made her feel like she was melting. "It's not everyday I meet a new friend. I'll see you sometime, all right? Here's my address and phone number. You're welcome anytime."

"Okay," Anna said, scribbling down her own and handing it to him. "I'll see you later."

"See you," Chris said as he jogged down the street, disappearing out of view. Anna sighed as she picked up her stuff and started the walk home, almost on air as she walked.

Being with Chris, talking to him, made her feel more alive than she had felt in the longest time. And she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, her dreams were reality.

What she would find completely ironic later was that just as she was thinking this, her mind was tugged in another direction and another memory was drifting from nowhere. Involuntarily, she was sucked into the past, where her dreams took place.

_Anna was crying by the pool outside of her house when she heard someone approaching. Sniffling, she looked up when she felt someone wrap a comforting arm around her. "Chris," she whispered, burying her face into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. _

_"Oh, Anna, I'm so sorry about Tristan," he told her. "But you know, he wanted it this way. He was ready to go." _

_"I know, it's just hard to believe that he's gone," she whispered. "And now, everything that he told me before he died . . ." _

_"What? What did he tell you?" Chris asked. Anna hesitated. "Come on, Anna, you can tell me. We're best friends, aren't we?" _

_"Okay, but you can't tell _anyone_," she warned him. "Not even your brother," she added warningly, knowing that William would try and drag it out of his little brother whether Chris told him or not. _

_"Since when do I tell him anything? I promise," Chris told her. "Now, what's going on?" _

_Anna turned towards him, her sky-blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Well . . . Tristan told me that my parents had to send me away, because they couldn't have two daughters. My father was afraid that my sister and I were going to tear the kingdom apart because of who we are." _

_"Well, who are you?" Chris was growing more confused by the minute, she could tell. _

_Looking up at him, Anna whispered, "Chris, I'm a princess. Queen Serenity is my mother and Princess Serena is my twin sister, apparently." Chris's green eyes grew wide at this. "They sent me away so that Serena and I wouldn't feud over the throne when Queen Serenity passed it to my sister." _

_"Were they crazy? It's only on Earth that kingdoms are destroyed because of feuding siblings." _

_"Well, I guess they were worried that it might happen here," Anna muttered, "because they sent me away, the younger of the twins, so that I could be raised in completely secrecy of my parentage." _

_"But you and Princess Serena don't look anything alike! How could the two of you be twins?" _

_"Apparently, I take after our father, although I have my mother's eyes," Anna said quietly. "Serena takes after our mother." The two were quiet for a moment before she spoke again. "And that's not all, Chris; now that Tristan and my father, the King, are gone, I have to leave now too. Queen Serenity apparently never knew that I was alive. She'd been told that I had died at birth, so that she wouldn't come after me and bring me back to the palace. My father told her and Princess Serena just before he died. So now, she's summoning me to the palace so that she can restore my birthright." _

_"What?!" Chris grabbed her hands. "No, Anna, you can't leave here! You can't!" He sounded desperate._

_"I don't _want_ to leave, Chris, but I have to," she whispered, crying. "She's forcing me to leave everything I've ever known behind. And I don't want to leave you," she whispered, laying her head onto his shoulder. From the way that he was holding her, he didn't mind at all. _

_"There's no way that I'm gonna let this happen," Chris said fiercely. "I need you, Anna, more than you can ever know." He held her in his arms so possessively that Anna felt safe and secure. Lying in his arms like that . . . she felt so safe. "I love you," he whispered. _

_Shivers travelled up Anna's spine and she smiled. "I love you, too, Chris," she whispered. "I always have. And I always will. My heart is yours and it always will be." _

_"And mine is yours," Chris whispered, his green eyes meeting her sky-blue ones. "Marry me?" _

_And in that one instant, she knew her chosen path, though her choice for a husband, she knew, would probably never be approved by the queen or her council. "I will," she whispered. "I will. Always and forever," she added, making both of them smile. _

Anna blinked as she came out of the memory that had made her stop dead in her tracks on the sidewalk. She let out a soft breath, looking around her and leaning against the pole, trying to remember how to breathe.

"What is happening to me?" she whispered. Why were these memories returning and much more vividly? Before, it had just been the battle, but every day since she came here, she seemed to be getting more and more memories and more of them by the day.

But . . . why?

--

"Hey, where have you been?" Will wanted to know, glancing up at Anna as she walked into the kitchen. "It's been hours since school let out, weren't you supposed to come straight home?"

"I called Ben and told him I was going out with some friends after school," Anna said, laying her bag in a chair. "It's not my fault that he didn't tell you about it." Will rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Aren't you supposed to be out with Melissa tonight?"

"She was busy."

"Katherine?"

"Had some school stuff to take care of."

"Julia?"

"Wasn't interested in the multiple-dating scenario, for some reason," Will responded, looking annoyed. "Don't you have homework to do or something, little girl?"

"I've already done it, thank you, and I'm not a little girl, William. I've fifteen," Anna countered. His eyes narrowed at her use of his full name, but he didn't comment. "You know, it's not Jamie's fault that we had to move away," she told him. Will tensed. "You guys didn't _have_ to break up when we moved away, Will, that was your decision."

"You don't know anything about that," Will snapped. "What do you know? A fifteen-year-old girl with her head in the clouds and her romantic, fairy tale ideas about love? Let me tell you something, kid, it doesn't always work out like that. Sometimes, you have to make a decision not because you want to, but because you don't have any other choice."

"If you love each other, then it'll work out, if you try hard enough," Anna reasoned, but Will scoffed.

"No, it won't," he retorted. "You have to use your head, not just your heart, when it comes to love. And your head knows reason better than the heart does, despite what your stupid fairy tales might say." He shook his head. "And let me tell you something, Anna, unless you want to end up an old maid, then you might want to get your head out of the clouds and start taking a good look around you. In a relationship, you have to stop worrying about yourself and think about the other person, not just yourself."

"Yeah, that didn't work too well with you and Jamie, did it?" Anna shot back, hurt. "It broke her heart when you broke up with her, you know. She told me what you said to her."

An angry flush crossed his face and he took two steps forward and struck her across the face so hard that she actually was flung back a few feet. By the time that she had regained her composure, Will was staring at his hand where he'd struck her.

"Anna, I—" he began.

Before he could finish, she snatched up her bag and raced out of the kitchen, out the door and down the street, nearly colliding with their neighbour as she ran.

It didn't take long for the rain that had been threatening to fall all day finally succumbed. Lightening struck across the city and thunder roared in Anna's ears. But she barely even heard it as rain loomed down around her, drenching the teenager as she ran to the park and started crying, submitting to her sorrows, confusion, and fear.


	5. Sisters

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Five: Sisters

She wasn't sure how long she had sat out in the rain, but the next thing that she remembered was big, strong hands lifting her up and then she was floating. Anna didn't open her eyes, though; she was too tired, too exhausted, too weary to care who was picking her up. She must've fallen asleep at some point, though, because the next thing that she knew, she was waking up in an unfamiliar bedroom.

Letting out a soft groan, she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes as she glanced around, wondering where she could be. "Where am I?" she muttered as something soft brushed against her hand.

Anna jumped in surprise, then glanced down towards the black cat that was nuzzling her hand. She relaxed; she loved cats. "Hey, there," she said, scratching her behind the ears. "Who are you?"

She caught sight of the crescent moon sign on her forehead and stared at it, entranced. "Hey, where did you get that?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Luna's had that ever since I've known her," a familiar voice spoke up. Anna glanced up and saw Serena Tsukino standing in the doorway, holding a tray of food. She smiled.

"Serena," Anna said in surprise. "Is this your house?" she asked, taking another look around. Now that she was looking for it, she saw a couple of photos with Serena in them.

"Yeah," Serena answered with a grin as she placed the tray on the table. "My boyfriend found you in the park, soaking wet and he brought you here. He knew that you were a friend of mine, so . . ." She shrugged as she trailed off. "He brought you here," she repeated.

"Well, thank him for not taking me home for me," Anna told her. "And thanks for letting me stay here. How long have I been out?"

"Oh, not for very long. A few hours," Serena answered. She glanced up. "Did you want to call your mom and let her know that you're okay?"

"Not particularly." Anna ran her fingers through her brunette hair, twirling her finger around a lock of hair. "I'm pretty sure Mom won't care. She probably won't even notice if I don't go home. Ben's too busy with his schoolwork to notice what's going around in the house and Will . . ." Anna paused in her rant. "He won't care that I'm not home," she said in a soft voice.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Anna shivered slightly and it wasn't due to the fact that her clothes were still damp. "So, what happened to you guys at the planetarium, anyway?"

Something flickered behind Serena's eyes, but it passed by so fast that Anna half-thought that she had imagined it. "Oh, that. Well, we were going to talk to our friend Trista about something and then we got blocked from getting back by those monsters."

"There was more than one?" Anna could've _sworn_ that there was only the one monster that day.

"No, it was just the one, but she blocked off the entrance so we couldn't get to you or Rini," Serena said, laughing nervously.

"The Sailor Scouts showed up, you know," Anna said, leaning back. "I've always wondered about them, Serena. I mean, I have studied planet and moon legends ever since I was a kid and there's no mention of warriors from the solar system."

"Really?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, I mean, there's some legends about a princess who lived on the moon and that she had friends from the planets who were a part of her court, but . . . no mention of Sailor Moon or the rest of the Sailor Scouts. You would think that it would be in there _somewhere_, wouldn't you?"

"Well, maybe those princesses were the Sailor Scouts and they had to transform into a new identity to stop the evil forces that were threatening the solar system."

Anna considered this. "What do you mean? Like past lives or something?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it. I mean, suppose that Sailor Moon really is the princess of the moon, then she would've had to take on a new identity in order to protect Earth."

"Do you believe in past lives, Serena?" Anna asked after a moment's pause. She looked towards the blonde for a moment.

Serena looked taken aback for a moment. "Well, of course I do. It's hard not to, with my friends. Why do you want to know?"

She wasn't sure why she told her, but everything spilled out about her reoccurring dream and the memories that were slowly, but surely, coming back to her. Serena listened to her without interruption, her sky-blue eyes becoming even wider as Anna told her tale.

"So, in this last memory that you received," she said slowly, "your past life said that you were related to the princess of the moon?" For some reason, she glanced down at her cat for a moment, but Luna was focused intently on Anna, so she returned her attention to the brunette.

"Yeah, her sister. Her _twin_ sister, actually," Anna answered, hugging her knees tightly. The girls had moved to the table and were working their way through the snack that Serena had brought up. "But I was sent away, so that we wouldn't feud over the throne. Our father had seen enough feuding siblings tear apart kingdoms on Earth, so I guess he didn't want that to happen to the Moon Kingdom. Which I can totally understand. I mean, my relationship with my brothers isn't that great. If we were princes and princesses, I have a feeling that we'd destroy _planets_, not just kingdoms."

Serena smiled, but her expression was still vacant, as though she were thinking about something. "Uh . . . so what happened?"

"Well, I don't know very much, I'm still working on that. But what I'm guessing is that sometime after I returned to the palace and was crowned a princess, the Moon was destroyed. That's what I remember the most, is it being destroyed. I'm with this guy and then when the palace is destroyed, I run back towards it and he is killed saving me. Then . . ." Anna's voice shook slightly. "Then they kill me."

"Whose they?"

"I dunno. Whoever destroyed the Moon Kingdom, I guess. But we weren't anywhere near the palace and the forces were mostly attacked there." Anna hadn't thought about that much. Could she have been wrong? Could she and Chris have switched sides after he proposed to her?

Anna immediately rejected the idea. In _any_ life, she knew, she would never try and destroy a kingdom, especially if the Moon Kingdom was as peaceful as she thought. Sure, the Royal Family had turned their back on her, but they had tried to get her back, after they found out that she was alive.

"Do you think that it's real?" Serena questioned, resting her head on her hands, biting her lip.

"I think that after fifteen years of the same dream, it would be remarkable if it wasn't," Anna answered. Serena nodded mutely. "But what difference does it make? I mean, how does it fit into the Sailor Scouts and all of that?"

Serena became very fidgety as Anna said that. "Uh . . . well, I don't know, Anna . . . maybe—"

"Anna!"

Looking around, Anna smiled as Rini bundled into the room, hugging Anna tightly around the waist, surprising the older girl. "I'm so glad to see you! Serena said not to bother you; you were sleeping. Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Rini." Anna hugged the girl back, unknowingly, in a very maternal-like way. "How are you? How's your friend, what's her name? Hotaru? What happened to her?"

Instantly, Rini's expression became worried. "I don't know, they won't let me see her," she said tearfully. "Why won't they let me see her? I just want to know if she's okay! It's not fair, Auntie Anna!"

Both girls stared at Rini, startled, as she applied the affectionate term to the brunette and Serena exclaimed, "Rini! She's not your aunt! She's too young to be your aunt!"

"It's okay, Serena," Anna said with a smile at the younger girl. "She can call me Auntie if she wants to. Really, Rini," she added to the pink-haired little girl. "I'll be your auntie, all right?" She was starting to feel somewhat better after leaving her house and the smile that spread across Rini's face was well worth it.

"All right," Serena sighed, thought she looked at Rini sharply. "But Rini, we were _talking_."

"Auntie Anna," Rini said, releasing her. She stared at Anna's damp clothes in horror and alarm. "You're soaked through! Serena, get her some dry clothes otherwise she's going to catch a cold. You'd never let me do such a thing," she added, placing her hands on her hips in a perfect imitation of her older cousin.

Serena blushed. "Sorry, Anna, I was going to get you some, but then we got to talking and I—"

"It's okay," Anna said weakly, getting to her feet. "I guess I should get home, anyway." But she realised that she didn't want to leave the two girls and she _certainly_ didn't want to face her brother just yet.

"Why don't you sleep over?" Rini suggested, looking thrilled at the idea. "Just call your mom and tell her that you want to stay over here for the night. She won't mind, will she?"

"No, she won't, but will yours?" Anna asked, looking towards Serena. "I mean, is it okay that I spend the night?"

"She'll be okay with it," Serena answered. "Here, put some dry clothes on and I'll go talk to her, then you can call your mom and tell her that you're staying here tonight. Okay?"

"All right," Anna said, smiling. "Serena?" she added, stopping the blonde as she was headed out the door. Her friend stopped and turned back towards her, a questioning look on her face. "Thank you, for everything," she said with a smile.

"No sweat," Serena said with a smile. "Besides, that's what friends do for each other." She headed out the door while Rini retrieved some clothes for her.

"Thanks, kiddo," Anna said, ruffling the little girl's pink hair affectionately. Rini grinned and scampered out of the room while Anna got out of her uniform and into the dry clothes.

--

_Stepping into the palace while the chauffeur dealt with her belongings, Anna shivered slightly as she looked around the palace. She had seen it her entire life, had gazed at it from afar. Many nights had been spent by her and Chris watching the fireworks coming from here. And now, she was walking through the halls for the first time in her life. _

_Well, no, probably not the first time. The first time was when she was sent away from her, right after her mother had given birth to her. _

_Footsteps alerted Anna to the presence of the woman who was approaching her down the steps. She had long, silvery hair that she wore in two pigtails down her back, flowing down to her feet. Her sky-blue eyes were the exact image of Anna's, though the young princess was nowhere near as tall as this woman was, and she held a certain grace. _

_"Oh, my dear Annalise," Queen Serenity whispered, wrapping her arms around her and holding her tightly. "My darling daughter. Welcome home." _

_Anna managed a weak smile as she caught sight of someone else hurrying down the steps. She did a double take at her resemblance to the queen, but this girl was far younger and had blonde pigtails instead of silver. But they both had the crescent moon adorned on their foreheads and both wore the silver white gowns of the Royal Family. _

_"Allow me to introduce Princess Serena, your sister," the queen said with an enthralled smile. "Serena, this is our dear, lost princess, Annalise." _

_"Annalise," Serena said with a huge smile. She rushed forward and hugged Anna tightly. "I'm so glad that you have finally come. Mother and I have waited every minute for this day. There's to be a ball tonight, in your honour." _

_"That's really not necessary," Anna said faintly. She was starting to get overwhelmed by all of this and there was a heartache in the place where Chris was. She missed him more than she was willing to admit. They had agreed to keep their betrothal quiet until Anna could figure out a way to sneak around the marriage law. _

_It was clearly stated that a Princess of the Moon Kingdom could only marry either a nobleman from the Moon or a Prince from Earth. And while Chris _did_ have nobleman background, he would not be considered a proper suitor for her, because he was a commoner. _

_"But of course it's necessary, my dear," the queen said, wrapping an arm around her. "You must meet the people that you were born into and hopefully proper suitors. Oh, duty calls," she sighed as a noble approached. "I'll let you two catch up. Annalise, Serena, I will see you at the ball later." She walked away to talk to the nobleman. _

_"Proper suitors?" Anna grumbled. "What does she want, bring me here and then get married?" _

_Serena giggled. "Maybe. I've already got a betrothal, but Darien and I love each other, so that's all right. But I daresay that you left your heart where you just came from, am I right?" Her sky-blue eyes, so much like Anna's and the queen's, twinkled mischievously. Anna blushed scarlet. "Who is he?" _

_"My best friend," Anna said quietly. "Must we discuss this so openly?" _

_"Come," Serena said, obviously understanding. "Let us go to your room. I'll show you, it's marvellous! You should see the view!" She led Anna up the stairs and further away from the place where her heart belonged. _

Anna gasped as she sat up, looking around. Serena was lying on the bed, snoring slightly, unawakened by Anna's dream. Slowly, the brunette leaned back down, closing her eyes slightly but opened them again.

As she snuck a glance towards Serena, her form lit by the moonlight, she could've sworn that she was looking at the Moon Princess, her sister, that she had just dream of, and not of the friend that she had recently made.

_Nonsense,_ Anna argued. _It's just a figment of my imagination. Or the lasting effects of the dream. _

_But she looks like the princess; Serena even has your eyes or haven't you noticed? _

She had. But honestly, Serena? Moon Princess? Sailor Moon?

_Didn't she and her friends disappear right when the monster attacked and right before the Sailor Scouts arrive? And she didn't give you a straight answer when you asked where she'd gone. _

Anna swallowed, glancing once again at Serena.

No, not Serena. _Princess_ Serena, the Sailor Scout of the Moon.

And, had she but known it, the future Queen of the Earth.


	6. The Locket

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Six: The Locket

"OH, NOT AGAIN!"  
Anna jolted awake when she heard Serena's yell that ripped her from her sleep. Blinking, she glanced up towards the blonde girl who was scrambling out of her bed, tripping over her blankets. Forgetting that she was sleeping on the floor next to her, Serena tripped over Anna and landed in a heap on the floor.

"Serena? Are you okay?" Mrs. Tsukino called up the stairs, but both girls were laughing, unable to reply. She must've heard the laughter, however, because they heard her heading towards the kitchen a moment later.

"Sorry about that," Serena said once she had recovered from her clumsiness. "I forgot you were there and . . . oh, great, we're _both _late for school!" she moaned, glancing at the clock.

With a laugh, Anna shook her head. "Serena, it's Saturday," she told the blonde, who blinked in surprise. "As in one of the two days a week that we have no classes and don't have to get up early?" She chuckled at the incredulous look on Serena's face.

"We do, however, have to meet the girls," Rini pointed out, appearing in the doorway. She looked wide-awake and dressed. "Come on, Serena, you're going to make us even later. And you better not have spent all of your money at the arcade," she added, glaring at her cousin.

"No, I didn't—"

"Good, because you promised to buy me ice cream when we were out shopping today," Rini said cheerfully. Serena sighed, shaking her head as she headed towards the bathroom to get dressed. Rini looked towards Anna, who was chuckling at the two cousins' bantering. "You wanna come with us? We're going to be shopping downtown?"

Anna smiled at her. "I don't know, Rini, I should probably head home and sort things out with my brothers," she told her, though it was the last thing that she wanted to do was to face Will. Her hand reached up and touched the place where he'd hit her. She winced slightly, feeling the pain just by the slight touch.

She sighed, getting to her feet and tousled the little girl's hair as she headed towards the second bathroom to get dressed. As she dressed in her uniform—which felt strange putting on, considering that it _was_ Saturday—Anna glanced at the mirror and winced at the bruise that had formed on her cheek from Will's blow.

"Well, Ben is definitely not going to let him get away with this one," she muttered, shaking her head. Not that it would really matter, if their mother got involved; while she ignored her daughter and elder son, she indulged in her younger one. He could do no wrong in her eyes.

With a small sigh, Anna brushed out her brunette hair absently, pulling her headband through as she stared absently at her reflection before heading out of the bathroom and up to Serena's room to gather her things. Serena was frantically racing around the room for her purse.

"Okay, now we're really late," she wailed, finally locating it by the window and turned towards her. "Anna, I'm sorry to just take off like this, but—"

"No, it's okay, I have to take off, anyway," Anna told her, patting her on the shoulder. "You just go and have fun with your friends, all right? I'll see you guys at school on Monday." She headed down the steps, saying goodbye to the Tsukinos.

"Thank you for having me stay here last night," she said politely, but Mrs. Tsukino waved it away.

"Don't worry about it," she said, smiling at Anna. "I'm glad that our Serena is making friends. Come over here any time that you like, Anna, you're always welcome."

Anna smiled and thanked her again as she headed out the door. To her surprise, she saw Serena's friends waiting outside the gate. Hoisting her purse higher onto her shoulder, she smiled nervously at them. "Hey, guys."

"Hello, Anna," Amy said with a smile as the others grinned at her. "Did you stay over here last night?"

"Yeah, problems with the family and Serena was nice enough to let me stay the night," Anna explained. "Speaking of which, I should probably get home, so—"

"Hey, hold on a minute," Lita said, tilting her head and frowning at her. "Who gave you the shiner?"

Anna winced slightly, uncomfortable. "It's not big deal," she said, shrugging. "You should see the other girl."

Both Raye and Mina chuckled, but Amy and Lita didn't. In fact, Lita was looking at her very seriously. "Look, if one of your brothers did this to you, then you really need to tell someone."

"It was an accident."

Just as Lita was about to say something out, Serena came bursting out of the house with Rini in tow. "All right, I'm here, let's get this show on the road," she said breathlessly. The other girls started expressing their complaints and annoyance as Anna was, once again, left forgotten.

Except by Lita. She was still staring at Anna. "Just give one of us a call if you need anything, all right?" she said seriously. Anna nodded mutely. "The last name's Kino, we're the only ones in Crossroads."

Without another word, she headed down the street after her friends. Anna sighed as something brushed down by her feet and she looked down, seeing Serena's cat streak past her. She looked back at her for a moment, her brown eyes seeming to look straight at her, and then ran after her owner.

Anna sighed and was about to head home when a flicker of lilac caught her eye. She looked down and saw something lilac lying at her feet. Bending down, she picked it up, staring down at it curiously.

It was a pretty lilac locket with a golden crescent moon enveloped all around the outside and a golden heart in the middle of the crescent. There was a golden circle that wrapped around the edge, keeping the moon and heart in the middle of it.

Just as Anna was staring at it, the door opened and Mrs. Tsukino appeared, looking at her. "I thought I heard someone out here," she commented. "Is everything all right, honey?"

"Uh, yeah," Anna said, slightly startled at her calling her by the affectionate term. "Um . . . I found this, does it belong to Serena or Rini?" she asked, holding it out to her. The woman took it in her hand, studying it curiously and shook her head.

"No, it's not either one of theirs, though they do have lockets of similar designs of them," she commented. Anna knew that; she'd seen the lockets that the girls' possessed. They rarely went anywhere without them. "You can keep it if you want; it's probably meant for you anyway."

"Do you think?" Anna asked sceptically.

"Of course," Mrs. Tsukino said with a smile. "Things that belong to us always have a way of coming back to us, no matter what lifetime."

"Even soul mates?" Anna asked, thinking of Chris and smiling. If he was indeed the same person that was in her dream and her dream was a memory of a past life, then Mrs. Tsukino was probably right.

"I would think so," Mrs. Tsukino said gently, handing the locket back to her. "Run along now, all right?"

"Goodbye," Anna said, putting it into her purse. She headed out of the Tsukino yard and headed towards her house, though she had no intention of running; she didn't want to face her brother right now.

But she knew she had to.

--

It came as no surprise to Anna that the first person that she saw when she walked through the door was Ben. He glanced up at her as she walked towards the stairs. "Hey, wondering where you were. Where were you last night, anyway? All Mom said was that you were staying at a friend's."

"Serena Tsukino's," Anna replied as she tried to get upstairs before the cross-examination began—or even worse, if he saw the ugly bruise on her cheek. "I stayed too late at her house, so I just stayed over."

"You never lose track of time," Ben said, frowning.

Anna gave him an award-winning smile. "Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" she said cheerfully. Ben stared at her, his eyebrows narrowing in suspicion. "I'm just going to go upstairs and put my stuff down and then—"

"Anna Ryder, you stop where you are," Ben said in a warning tone, making her freeze on the spot. "Come back down here."

Silently groaning, she turned back towards her brother and walked down the stairs, allowing him to see her properly for the first time. He let out an exclamation when he saw the bruise. "Anna! Who did this to you?"

She shrugged, giving him another innocent smile and the same answer she'd gave Lita. "You should see the other girl."

He rolled his eyes. "Anna, you're lying."

"Oh, yeah? How do you know?"

"Because I can see your wisdom teeth," he answered. Anna bit her lip and dropped the smile that she used ever time that she told a bald-faced lie. She could shade the truth easily enough, when she put her mind to it, but to tell an outrageous lie like that . . . well, she had absolutely no knowledge of telling falsehoods like that. "Now, who did this to you?"

At that precise moment, the door opened and Will came waltzing in, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw his sister standing there and his eyes immediately fixed on the bruise. He swallowed, looking towards their brother worriedly.

Ben saw all of this and immediately guessed the truth. "Anna, you go upstairs," he said through clenched teeth. She was never more grateful to obey his order as she raced upstairs to her room.

The moment that she set foot on the second landing, yelling erupted from down below, so loud that she was sure that the neighbours were going to call the police for disturbance of the peace. She hurried to her room, closing the door, which numbed the noise.

Once she was safely in her room, Anna set her purse onto her bed, retrieving the locket that she had found and staring at it carefully. It seemed so familiar . . . like she had seen it before.

Suddenly, the answer came to her so quickly that she couldn't believe that she hadn't known it earlier. How could she not recognise this locket? After all, she had seen it in her dreams every night for fifteen years!

This was the locket that Annalise had wished upon when she had died, the one where she had wished that she and Chris would find a way back to each other, so that they could at last be together again.

She stared down at it in shock, unable to believe what she had discovered. But the more important question, bigger than why these dreams affected her, was how had it found its way back to her?

Had Serena found the locket and given it back to her? she wondered. But she doubted that Serena knew about the second moon princess, which was probably why she seemed so shocked last night.

Oh, she knew of the moon princess, Sailor Moon, but she hadn't known about her sister; that much was clear. But the only other person who had heard Anna's confession about her dreams was . . .

Anna gasped in realisation before frowning in confusion.

"Serena's _cat_?"


	7. Sailor Selene

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seven: Sailor Selene

Anna didn't dare leave anywhere without the locket, for fear that she would come back and it would be gone. She didn't know why or how she knew, but she knew that it was important. Something inside of her just knew that whoever she was, wherever she came from, was important and it was connected with the locket.

To her relief, Lita hadn't questioned her further about where she'd gotten the bruise from, but the older girl _had_ been keeping a closer eye on her ever since that incident at the Tsukino home. It was kind of bordering on annoying, actually. Anna was used to having older brothers, but an older sister was another story.

Listening to Ms. Haruna drone on during history class, Anna was holding her head in her head to keep herself from falling asleep, doodling in her notebook instead of taking notes like she should've been doing. She was only half-paying attention to her drawing until she glanced down at it and seen what she had been sketching.

She frowned, staring at the girl in the picture that looked an awful lot like Princess Annalise. They both had the same curly, brown hair and sky-blue eyes, just as Anna did, but unlike the princess, the girl in the drawing was in a sailor outfit much like the Sailor Scouts. Boots that came up to her knees were a silver colour, with a symbol on them that was the same that was on the locket; the crescent moon and heart. Her sailor outfit was lilac on the vest and skirt, but the bow across the chest was the same silver as the boots and had the locket that Anna now carried attached to it. Gloves that came up to her elbows were white and the ends of them were silver, too. Her hair was pulled back into a braid to keep it out of the way and pearls had been weaved into it. A golden tiara with a lilac gem was in the middle of her forehead. This was, undoubtedly, a Sailor Scout, but if her assumptions were correct and the princesses of the solar system were the Sailor Scouts, then this was another reincarnation of Princess Annalise.

Only what was her name? There was already a Princess of the Moon and her new identity, Sailor Moon, who was also the girl who was sitting in front of Anna just now. So this Sailor Scout couldn't be Sailor Moon, but she was undoubtedly another Sailor Scout from the Moon, so she would have to have another name.

Anna glanced towards the drawing again, closed her eyes for a minute, and breathed in deeply. Her sky-blue eyes opened and she smiled, the name flitting into her mind and she felt as though she had regained a lost name, from a forgotten place and time.

Sailor Selene.

Tugging on a strand of her hair, she closed her notebook quickly and returned to the page that she was supposed to be working on as Ms. Haruna walked by. However, the woman was more focused on seizing Serena's smuggled comic book hidden under her books than with Anna's doodling. She winced, feeling sorry for Serena, but relieved that she hadn't found her notebook.

A knock came at the door and Ms. Haruna answered it, taking the note that the student handed her. She sighed, glancing towards the note before walking over to Anna. "Miss Ryder, you're wanted in the office," she told her, handing her the note. "Take your things with you."

Anna took the note, frowning slightly, before gathering up her things and heading out of the classroom. She walked quickly to the office, wondering what on earth she could've possibly done wrong. Searching her mind, she couldn't remember doing anything that would've gotten her yanked out of class and hauled into the office.

Pushing open the door to the office, Anna walked over to the secretary's desk and handed her the note, explaining why she was there. "Oh, your brother called, Miss Ryder," the secretary explained. "You're supposed to meet him out front. Take this note to your teachers tomorrow and they'll excuse your absence." She handed it to Anna.

"My brother?" Anna was nonplussed. Why would Ben or Will yank her out of class for no reason? Unless something had happened. . . . "Which one?" she asked, suddenly worried.

The secretary shrugged carelessly as another student walked in and she went to go help him. Anna shook her head, taking the note and her bag and headed out of the office. Opening the door to the school, she was stunned to see that it wasn't Ben or Will that was standing there with his arms crossed waiting for her.

"Chris?" Anna asked, awe-struck. She shook her head. "You sent the note?" she guessed and he nodded.

"Guilty as charged," he said, holding up his hands. "Arrest me if you want to." She couldn't help chuckling and his green eyes twinkled slightly as he smiled at her. "I wanted to see you, but when I called your house, your brother said that you were busy and couldn't be bothered with anybody and not to call there ever again."

Anna gritted her teeth. "Ten to one says that it was Will who answered the phone," she muttered. "I am so going to strangle him when I get home." She wasn't sure yet whether or not she meant that literally.

"Yeah, I was pretty sure that you wouldn't have given me your number just to tell me to buzz off at the first time I used it," he said airily. "You just don't seem that type of girl."

"Oh, yeah? And what type of girl do I seem like?" Anna wanted to know, intrigued by his interpretation of her.

"Well, you seem like the good girl type, but has the habit of finding trouble wherever she goes. One who follows her heart and tries to help people no matter the reason."

Anna smiled. "Well, I guess you're kind of right," she commented, her sky-blue eyes meeting his green ones and she felt her heart flutter as it did ever time that she looked into his eyes.

"Of course I am. So tell me, would ditching class and hanging out with a really good-looking guy who would love to spend some more time with you be a cardinal sin in your book?"

Frowning slightly, Anna studied him. "Well, I don't know . . . it would be the first time that I've ever cut class. But as long as this completely modest friend doesn't do it too often so that eventually I'm taking the entire year over, then I'm in," she said with a smile.

"Good. Because we'd better make this an outing that we won't forget. 'Cause chances are that my dad's gonna kill me for cutting school," he said lightly. Anna couldn't help laughing as the two of them hurried around the corner and left Crossroads Junior High.

--

"So, you mind if I ask you something?" Chris wanted to know as they walked through the mall while they ate their ice cream that they'd gotten at Baskin Robbins. His was strawberry cheesecake while Anna's was just plain chocolate. If there was one thing that she could never pass up was an opportunity for chocolate ice cream. "How'd you get the bruise?" He nodded towards the still-healing shiner on Anna's cheek.

With a small sigh, Anna sighed, avoiding his eyes. "My brother hit me," she finally admitted.

"WHAT? Why?"

"We just got into a fight about his break-up with his girlfriend before we moved here," Anna explained. "I guess it just got out of control and he slapped me. When Ben found out what Will did, he went ballistic, though." Anna shook her head.

"I don't blame him," Chris said angrily. "How anybody ever get mad at someone as sweet and as caring as you are?"

Anna smiled at him. "Thanks, but I have been known to lose my temper a time or two," she informed him.

"Well, nobody can go their entire life without ever losing it," Chris said lightly. "Have you gone through those books that you got yet?" he asked, referring to the books she'd bought at his dad's store.

"Just the moon myths one," Anna answered. "I'm working on _Heroes and Heroines Across the Stars_ right now. It's just been kind of hectic lately." She shook her head, suppressing a sigh. "Hey, do you remember what you said the day that we met?"

Chris was smiling now. "Which part?"

"The part about you feeling like we knew each other," Anna said slowly. "Maybe from another lifetime or something?"

"Yeah, I remember." Chris had stopped smiling and was looking at her curiously. "What about it?"

"Do you really believe in that kind of stuff? That our past lives can affect us here in the present?" Anna took a deep breath. "Like maybe . . . some of us were sent here from the past so that we could start over." She shook her head, unable to translate what she was trying to ask.

"Yes."

"Huh?" She looked up at him.

"Considering all the scrapes that I've gotten out of, I think that the only reason that I'm still alive is that my past self had somehow using his influence to get me out of it. There are some things that's happened, you would never believe. And then there's this." He reached inside his pocket and withdrew a small, battered stone lying in the center of its palm.

Anna stared. The clear, white stone had marks all of it, indicating that damage had been done to it, but it seemed to gleam slightly as she leaned towards it, trying to get a better look at the stone. "What is this?" she wanted to know, glancing up at Chris. "Where did you get it?" It seemed _so_ familiar, like she'd seen it before.

"That's the thing, I don't know." Chris replaced it inside his jacket pocket. "I've had it ever since before I can remember and Dad said that he's never seen it before when I asked him. He just said it looked like a piece of junk and I should throw it away."

"Why didn't you?"

"It just felt like it was important," Chris answered, shrugging. "I wish I could've asked Mom about it, but . . ." He cleared his throat. "She would've known, I think, what it was. Where it came from, at least."

Anna took his hand into her own and squeezed it tightly. He looked at her and smiled. "I think that maybe we knew each other in another lifetime," she said softly, feeling the need to confide in him at last. She wished she could tell him everything, but there was still so much that she didn't understand. "And that we were sent here to the present without any memories of our past so that we could be happy here."

Chris smiled at her. "Yeah, well, if that's true, then it wouldn't explain why I've had memories of another time coming back to me."

Feeling her smile slip, Anna stared at him. "What?" she asked slowly, not at all sure that she had heard him right.

"I've had dreams my entire life, about a place that isn't there anymore," Chris answered simply. "And ever since I met you, these memories seem to be getting more and more vivid and real."

Anna stared at Chris, straight into his green eyes. "It's happened to me, too," she whispered. "I've had dreams my entire life, too, and I've been getting more of them ever since I moved here. Since I met you and—and Serena."

"Who's Serena?"

"One of my friends at school." Anna swallowed. "And if I'm right about everything, then she would be my long lost twin sister . . . and Sailor Moon."


	8. First Kiss

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Eight: First Kiss

Chris stared at Anna as if she had grown two heads and said in a hushed voice, "Sailor Moon? Are—are you sure? I mean—how do you know?" His green eyes were shocked, stunned and everything in between. Anna knew he could hardly believe what he was hearing from her. Indeed, Anna could hardly believe the truth herself, but everything that she knew about Serena made sense with her dreams.

The blonde knew things about the Moon Kingdom, even if she hadn't confided in Anna about them, she looked just like the princess of the Moon, Princess Serena, and she had just _happened_ to disappear the day that those monsters attacked with her friends when the Scouts showed up? It was too much of a coincidence. And Anna had never really been a believer of coincidences.

"I'm sure that she is," Anna said quietly. "But I don't have any proof. These dreams of mine that take place in a kingdom on the moon, I was a lost princess there. Raised away from the palace so my sister would be the sole heir to the Moon Kingdom throne before I was forced to return against my will. Serena looks just like my twin sister, whom I am positive became Sailor Moon in this lifetime, a reincarnation to fight the evils that destroyed the Moon. It was the Moon Princess's destiny to fight them in this lifetime, so that what happened in the Moon Kingdom wouldn't happen here." Anna sighed. "The other Sailor Scouts are the other princesses of their own respective planets, and a part of Serena's court." She shook her head. "Chris, you've been having dreams all of your life, too? Ones of your past life on the Moon? Because I've had them my entire life as well."

Chris nodded once as they headed to the top floor of the mall, which had an overlook over the city. It was empty, save for the two teenagers. "I've had them since before I can remember. But the one thing that I remember most clearly is the girl who I knew I had to remember." He met her eyes once before he looked away. "It was you, Anna."

"I know."

"You do?"

Anna nodded. "I remember the attack on the palace most clearly. We managed to find each other during the battle before an attack was launched on the palace and I went to go find Mother and Serena." She closed her eyes and the images of the bloody battle filled her mind. "As I raced towards the palace, you tried to stop me. That was when those horrible monsters from the Negaverse came and killed you, Chris." Tears ran down her face. "You died in my arms and I soon followed you, attacked by your own killers. But I made a wish that we would find each other again, so that we could finally be together, in a time of peace and happiness."

Until Chris reached out and cupped her face, Anna hadn't realised that she was sobbing. His green eyes were shining slightly, as though he were trying not to cry as well, but he held it in. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you, Anna," he whispered.

Anna shook her head. "There was no way that either one of us could have stopped what happened that day, Chris. Those monsters wanted both of us dead because they wanted to take over the Moon and then the universe." She smiled through her tears as she leaned her head onto his chest, feeling calm and comfortable in his arms. Judging from his expression, he didn't mind at all. "I'm just glad that we found each other again."

"So am I," Chris sighed. "So am I." He paused as he glanced up towards the sky. "What do you think we're supposed to do now?"

"Help my sister," Anna replied quietly. "Serena needs us in this time and place, Chris. I think that's why we were both sent to the same city. It wasn't coincidence when my mother couldn't find a job back in our old city and had to move us here, just like it wasn't coincidence when we ran into each other that day I went to the planetarium."

"Why would she need our help?" Chris said, frowning. "If Serena is Sailor Moon, then why would she need us to help protect Earth? Doesn't she have her fellow Scouts?"

"And that friend of hers in the tuxedo and cape," Anna mused. She slapped her head. "Which of course must be Darien! Prince Darien, Serena's old love from the Moon Kingdom! He'd do anything to protect her, which means he, too, had to take on a new incarnation, like Serena and her friends did! I am such an idiot!"

"You're not an idiot!" Chris informed her, but he was laughing. "A bit crazy, maybe, but you're not an idiot."

"Thanks," Anna told him, rolling her eyes. "Well, these monsters are bound to show up again, so when they do, we'll have to be ready for them. I'm sure that I was supposed to become a Sailor Scout, too."

"You? A Sailor Scout?" Chris stared at her and she smiled slightly, showing him the locket that she had found. He traced over the crescent moon that spread across the cover, his eyes become vacant. "I've seen this before," he whispered.

"Yeah, I had it when I was on the Moon," Anna explained. "But I think it's also some sort of transforming device. And I drew this while I was daydreaming during class earlier," she added, pulling out her sketchbook out of her bag and showing him. He frowned at the image of Sailor Selene. "The name 'Sailor Selene' came to me earlier. I think that this is how we're supposed to help them."

"Maybe you, but how am I supposed to help by this?" Chris asked her as he handed the sketchbook back.

Anna smiled at him. "Listen, if Darien can become this Tuxedo Mask guy, then there's no reason on Earth that you shouldn't be able to help us. I know that we can do this together, Chris," she said softly, gazing into his green eyes. "We're meant to be like this."

Chris smiled slightly as he wrapped his arms around her. "What? Always fighting to be together, to stay together, and run away together?" he quipped.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Anna replied as she wrapped her arms around his waist and he held her tightly. She sighed, taking in the view of the city with the sun bearing down upon them, creating a glow that was surrounding the two lovers.

"Whenever you and your sister go to fight this new evil," Chris said after a long moment. "Wherever you go . . . I will always be right there next to you, defending you to the end."

Anna nodded as they held on to each other, savouring the moment. "I know that you will," she whispered. "But I just hope that it doesn't end like it did a thousand years ago, Chris. I don't want to think that everything that we fought and sacrificed for was for nothing." She gazed into his eyes. "I want us to be together at last."

"We will," Chris assured her. "I promise you that we will grow up together and have many nights and days together."

"You promise?" Anna asked him, smiling coyly at him, her true love, the one who had found her in this lifetime.

"I promise," Chris said loyally, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close. "You have my word as gentlemen," he added teasingly.

Anna laughed as she leaned next to him. And as she realised just how close they were to each other, the laughter died on her lips as she gazed up into his green eyes. Both teenagers stared into each other's eyes, both getting lost in them . . .

"You don't always have to be so strong," Chris murmured as he leaned closer to her. "You're trembling."

"No, I'm not." But Anna could feel her hands shaking as she stared up into his eyes. She could feel her heart pulsing with every breath that she took. Oh, she cared about him so much. More than she had cared about anyone in her entire life.

Chris cupped her head again and tilted her head backwards so that she couldn't escape his gaze. He was leaning closer . . . oh, so closer . . . until they were so close that she could see the brilliant green of his eyes and the irises and every part of those stunningly fascinating eyes of his that she so loved gazing into . . .

And the next moment, everything went out of her mind and was filled with a pleasant happiness. Sheer joy and illumination shone through her as their lips met and he captured her in a kiss.

In that moment, any doubt that Anna had that everything would be all right went away. And in that moment, Anna Ryder, formally Princess Annalise of the Moon Kingdom, knew everything would be all right. Because they had found their way to each other.

Everything was going to be all right again.

--

Anna was grinning by the time that she finally arrived home, twirling as she entered the kitchen and startling both her brothers as they sat at the table, giving each other stony looks as they did their homework for the night. Ever since Ben had yelled at Will a couple of weeks ago, they had maintained a adamant, but entirely mutual, silence.

"Good afternoon, guys," she said cheerfully, smiling at each of them as she walked over to the refrigerator and picked up a bottle of water. "It's been a lovely day, hasn't it?" Both of her brothers stared at her before looking at each other incredulously. "I'm gonna go do my homework," she added, still grinning. "Call me if someone calls for me, though, okay?" Before either one of them could answer, she skipped upstairs.

"What has gotten into her?" she heard Will demand as she climbed the stairs merrily.

"Offhand, I'd say that she's in love," Ben responded dryly. Anna giggled slightly, not surprised by his comment, as she shut the door behind her. The moment that she did, she tossed her bag on the bed and picked up her locket.

There was no need to start her homework; she hadn't gotten any before she had skipped out of class. The most important thing right now, anyway, was learning how to transform herself. Both she and Chris agreed that in order to fight this new enemy, then she had to figure out how to transform and to use her Sailor powers.

"Look deep inside yourself," Chris suggested. "Let your past flow through you and find the words that will allow you to merge your past and present lives." Hearing his calm and soothing voice in her mind allowed Anna to feel her powers surging through her.

"Moon Selene Power!"

Almost instantly, lilac and white lights picked her up and twirled her across the moon and stars. Silver ribbons swirled around her body, replacing her uniform with the same Sailor Scout outfit that she'd drawn in her sketchbook earlier today.

When she finally landed on the ground, she looked down at herself, amazed by her new outfit.

"Okay, now here comes the hard part," she muttered, praying that her brothers wouldn't hear the noise that would undoubtedly come from her room. She stretched out her hand and felt power surging through it. "Selene Moonshine!"

An almost light flowed through her hand, illuminating the room more brightly than anything that she had ever seen before, saving for the true moonlight on dark nights.

Anna—Sailor Selene—couldn't help grinning. Her destiny was starting to unfold. Her destiny as a Sailor Scout and as a Princess of the Moon.


	9. Danger at Mugan

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Nine: Danger at Mugan

_Anna sighed as she stared out of the palace into the beautiful kingdom that she had lived her entire life. But now she was looking at it from an entirely different point of view and she didn't like it one bit. _

_It would've been different if she had _chosen_ to come here, but she hadn't. She'd been forced to leave and been forced to come back. Neither time had been of her own choosing. And especially at this time in her life, when things were so complicated . . ._

_She bit her lip, thinking about Chris. Missing him like she'd been since she'd come here. Serena understood, at least, because she loved her fiancé, Darien, a prince from Earth. Anna had only met him once, but he seemed like a decent enough man. She wished that the queen could understand why Anna was so miserable here. Her heart belonged somewhere else, to someone. She had given it to him willingly and it was with Chris where she belonged. _

_Walking away from the window, she sat down on the bed, placing her head into her hands, feeling trapped. This place had been so . . . frustrating since the moment that she had arrived here. Always having to follow a certain protocol and etiquette, rules that had to be abided by. She wished that she could leave, but there was nowhere she could get out without being seen. _

_Standing up, Anna walked past the painting of her family that had been placed in her chambers—against her will, of course—and for the first time, wondered why the curtains fell behind the painting. She walked back and studied the drapery carefully, curiosity overcoming her. Her sky-blue eyes narrowed slightly as she pulled back the draperies and the painting swung open, revealing a hidden corridor inside of it. _

_"A secret passageway?" Anna whispered as she stepped into the corridor. "Wonder where it leads." She walked down the path, not caring that the hallway was filthy and muddy and the servants would have a field day when they saw the state of her gown. Sometimes, servants got into noble affairs more than nobles did, she decided as she continued to travel down. _

_After awhile, she wished that she had a candle or at least a light, because the lower she got, the darker it became. Just as she was about to give up and go back, she saw the light that came from ahead. _

_Anna hurried forward, pushing open the secret door that led outside, beyond the castle walls. As she stepped out, she looked around at the palace, where the fireworks had started to explode for the evening's festivities. Well, too bad, she wasn't too keen on going back. Her mother would just have to deal with it; she was sick of being a princess. _

_She looked towards the place where she had grown up, where she had lived, and where her true love was waiting for her. "Oh, Chris, I miss you so much," she whispered, hugging herself tightly and trying to hold back a sob. _

_Although she had been speaking from her heart and hoped that he would hear her call, Anna had never expected an answer. _

_"Well, that's good, because I've missed you, too." Anna whirled around to see Chris standing behind her with his usual, cocky smile. "So much, in fact, that I had to come and see you." _

_"Chris!" Anna raced towards him and threw her arms around her love. He laughed and swung her around before setting her onto the ground again. The lovers kissed tenderly and Anna hugged him tightly, not wanting to let him go. Until that moment, she hadn't realised just how much he had meant to her. In seeing him again, she felt that two pieces had become whole. Her heart and his beat as one and she felt more complete than she'd felt in awhile. "I've missed you so much." _

_"I've missed you, too," he said softly, stroking her hair. His lips were resting on her forehead. "Anna . . ." _

_She laid her head onto his chest, feeling his arms wrap around her and she breathed in deeply, savouring the moment. "I'm so glad that you came." _

_"Actually, I've been here for a few days, but the guards wouldn't let me through," Chris admitted. "Commoners aren't allowed inside the palace gates. But I could still see you from your bedroom. Every night sitting next to the window and staring out of the palace like a bird that wanted to fly away . . ." He smiled as she looked up at him. _

_"Have you come to kidnap me?" she asked playfully. "Because you have my permission if you have." _

_"If only I could," he laughed. "But then, you have no idea how to get around that stupid Moon Kingdom law—which is beyond outdated, by the way?" _

_"No," Anna sighed. "Even Serena doesn't think that there's a way. She doesn't know everything," she added to his look. "But I had to ask her if there was a way around it. She would know better than anyone." _

_"I suppose then it's hopeless," Chris sighed. "We have to give each other up before we've barely had each other." _

_"No." Anna shook her head. "I'm not going to do that, Chris. No matter what happens, I will never give up on us. Which is why I've come up with a way to ensure that we can be together, no matter what the queen and the council say." She looked at him straight in the eye. "If we get married without their knowing, then it will be a holy union, something that I don't think they can break apart. The only way that I think they can stop us is if they find out beforehand." _

_Chris's grip tightened on her hands. "You want to run away together?" he asked incredulously. "Defy Queen Serenity and the entire Council?" _

_"The heart does things for love that reason and logic cannot understand," Anna responded. "Tristan taught me that." _

_A reckless smile spread across his face and he shook his head. "I'm either out of mind or in love," he commented. "When should we do it?" _

_"No time like the present," Anna said, laughing. "Chris, we've been in love with each other for our entire lives, we've both had our chances to be with other people. We're ready." _

Anna opened her eyes, blinking up at the ceiling as she was brought from the dreamworld abruptly. "Oh, man," she muttered, turning on her side. What had caused her abrupt awakening? She was certain that the dream hadn't been over when she'd woken up and the only times that she'd been interrupted by one of her dreams was when someone or something had woken her up.

With a small sigh, Anna sat up and blinked in the darkness. Glancing at the clock, she groaned slightly when she saw that it was only midnight. She couldn't have been asleep for very long. Silently cursing whatever had woken her, she rolled over to go back to sleep.

"Princess Annalise . . ." a mythical voice whispered. Anna froze and jerked up, staring wildly around her, her eyes landing on the woman that stood in front of her, sky-blue eyes upon the girl who was sitting in the bed, eyes filled with wonder and shock, hardly comprehending what was happening. This just wasn't possible, she thought as she stared at the figure near the foot of her bed, looking like a ghost, but at the same time, more real than any ghost.

"Queen Serenity," she whispered, unable to believe her eyes, but at the same time, she knew it was true.

"You must go to Mugan School, my daughter," she said as though she hadn't heard Anna. "Go now, before the people of Earth suffer as the Moon Kingdom suffered. Your sister needs your help, now more than ever. The students at Mugan have begun to head there, under the wicked witch's spell. Hurry, now." And then she was gone.

Anna swallowed and in two seconds, climbed out of bed, dressing quickly before she headed downstairs, not caring if anybody heard her leaving. Her mother and Will would probably care less anyway, but she'd have a time explaining this to Ben.

Oh, well. He'd probably let her off the hook, considering the little incident with Will a couple of weeks ago. And if he didn't, she really didn't care. That wasn't important now. What was important was getting to Mugan School and saving the students that—

Suddenly, reason caught up with her senses and Anna froze on the spot, horror rising through her. "_Mugan_ School?" she whispered, terrified. "But Chris goes there!"

She took off running, faster than she'd ever run before in her entire life, and racing down the streets, ignoring the cars that honked at her in annoyance. She only had one thought on her mind and that was getting to Mugan School to save Chris and the students. _He has to be all right,_ she thought, afraid. _I won't lose him. I _can't.

It didn't take her very long to track down Mugan School. She knew exactly where it was, from Chris pointing it out downtown once. What surprised Anna was to find Serena racing down the street, sprinting towards the school.

"Serena!" she called, stopping the blonde girl in her tracks. She slowed to a stop, trying to catch her breath. "What . . . are you . . . doing here?" she gasped, looking up at the blonde.

"What am I doing here? What are _you_ doing here?" Serena demanded, looking positively alarmed at seeing her there. "You shouldn't be here, Anna, this is really dangerous stuff."

"Oh, but no danger for you?" Anna retorted, getting her voice back and glaring at Serena. "Look, it may have escaped your notice, but I am just as capable of handling these kinds of situations, Serena. Or should I say, Sailor Moon?" she added crossly. Serena's eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, I know about that. I also know that your friends are the other Sailor Scouts. I didn't fail to notice that you disappeared that day that the monster attacked and they showed up and then you just happened to know so much about the Sailor Scouts and the Moon Kingdom? And besides, my dreams? I've seen you in them, or at least your other self, _sister_." She placed her hands on her hips. "I'm coming with you."

"Anna, you're not a Sailor Scout," Serena protested weakly. She seemed to have overcome her shock.

"Sailor Scout or not, I am coming with you," Anna said, the look in her eyes telling Serena that it was pointless to argue. "Besides, let me ask you something: would you leave Darien or any of your friends in there if you knew that they were in there?" She raised her eyebrows inquiringly.

"Of course not!" Serena protested.

"Well, there's someone that I care about that goes to that school and could be under the spell," Anna said, placing her hands on her hips. "Someone that I really care about and maybe even love." She stopped when she said that, not realising until that moment that she did love Chris. Despite that what happened between them was a thousand years ago, she still loved him, here and now, in the present.

Serena sighed, looking down at the cats that Anna hadn't noticed were with her. "I don't know about this," she grumbled.

"It's different when friends are involved," a voice said and Anna jumped, looking down at the black cat. "Princess Annalise, you are welcome to join us." Luna smiled at the incredulous girl.

"You can talk?" Anna demanded. "How did you . . ." She shook her head. "You know, on second thought, never mind. Come on, let's go." Grabbing Serena's hand, she raced down the path, dragging her sister with her as they ran towards the school, where countless students were now heading straight into danger.

_Chris, wherever you are, just please hang on,_ Anna thought, praying he could hear her. Their hearts were one a thousand years ago and hers still belonged to him here. _Please, hold on for me. I'm coming, Chris. _


	10. The Stone of Love

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Ten: The Stone of Love

Anna was trying very hard to stay calm as she peered at the school, her sky-blue eyes searching frantically for Chris amongst the students that were now walking, hypnotised, into the school. _Chris, where are you?_ she thought in panic as Serena touched her shoulder.

She jumped. "What?" she asked, glancing towards her sister. Then she noticed that the other girls were running towards them, joining the two of them.

"Serena, there you are," Lita said, then spotted Anna standing there. "Hang on a minute, what is she doing here? Anna, you shouldn't be here!"

"Okay, I have just gotten through having this argument with Serena, I am not about to have it with you, too," Anna informed her. "Whether you like it or not, I am _staying_." Her tone left no room for argument and she turned back to look at the students as a witch appeared at the front of the room.

"Their heart crystals," Amy whispered as the glittering crystals appeared before the students, as though they had come from their hearts. "She's taking them all!"

Just as Anna was about to ask them what heart crystals were, the witch seemed to notice their arrival. "Ladies, this is a private party and I'm afraid that you're not invited," she said coldly.

Anna pushed herself out of view just as Serena and the others were sucked into a bubble and lifted up into the sky. Cursing herself for being so stupid as to try and save herself and not save them, Anna swallowed and looked around the corner and saw that the witch had disappeared; undoubtedly going to where Serena and her friends were to deal with them. She bit her lip, trying to decide, when she spotted Chris.

Her heart skipped a beat and she pushed her way through the crowd, grabbing hold of Chris as his glazed and hypnotised eyes slowly turned onto hers. "Chris!" she shouted, scared. Those eyes had looked into hers and seen her for who she truly was; they could see her in a way that no one else could. And it frightened her to see them so dead looking and unseeing.

"Chris, please, pull yourself together!" she pleaded, giving him a little shake, trying to pull him back to his senses. "Come on, Chris, I need you here! Don't leave me here," she begged him, pressing her face into his chest. "Don't leave me again," she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.

As she clutched his jacket, something slipped from the inside pocket and she caught it, staring down at the object that lay in her hand.

It was the stone that Chris had showed her earlier that day.

Staring down at it, Anna's mind was whisked away to another time and place, to the Moon Kingdom. And she finally understood why she and Chris had been away from the palace at the time of the attack.

_Anna smiled up at her love, the man that she had loved her entire life, as they held each other's hands. The priestess was chanting the ancient Moon Kingdom marriage ceremony as she looked towards the young princess and her true love. _

_"We are gathered here today, to unite two souls as one," she said, smiling towards them with a mixture of happiness and joy. It was her joy to unite young couples who were so deeply in love as these two young people were. "Do you, Annalise, daughter of Serenity and Niall, and you, Christopher, son of Margaret and Jonathan, come here of your own free will to acknowledge the eternal bond shared by the two of you?" _

_"I do," Anna said. _

_"I do," Chris said, smiling at her. _

_"Then turn towards each other," the priestess instructed and they obeyed. "Christopher, you may recite your vows." _

_Chris looked at Anna with such love and compassion that she wondered how she could have ever gotten so lucky as to deserve someone like him. "Anna," he whispered, "we stood next to a lake and told each other how we felt. I don't think that ten months ago, we could have known that our love would grow ever so stronger. Or that . . . the ones who tried to drive us apart would be the reason why we were pushed together. Your love kept me whole and sane and true. And I will love you until the end of time and beyond. And always and forever," he added with a small smile. _

_Anna smiled back as the priestess nodded in approval. "Now, Annalise," she said, turning towards the princess. _

_Trying not to cry tears of joy, Anna looked at Chris. "Growing up, I didn't understand a whole lot of things about the universe. Why people did the things that they do and why we can't live our own lives. But the one thing that had always ever made sense to me . . . was you. And the way that I felt about you. I had always known that and it was what made me complete. No matter what happens or where we go, I will never stop loving you. Our love will keep us together, no matter where we are." _

_The priestess looked towards Chris's brother Henry and his sister-in-law Patience. "Here before witnesses Christopher and Annalise have sworn their vows to each other. With this cord, I bind them to those vows. However, this binding is not tied, so that neither partner is restricted by the other. Because the only true enforcement of love is the will to love." _

_As the cord wrapped around them, Anna and Chris said simultaneously, "Heart to thee, body to thee. Forever, and so mote it be." _

_"So mote it be," the priestess agreed as they slipped the rings of union onto one another. _

_"So mote it be," Henry and Patience said just as a silver and lilac light swirled around the two and a stone landed into their joined hands. _

_Just as the stone dropped into their palms, a blast occurred from outside and Chris whirled around, startled. Anna gasped at the second blast. "That was coming from the palace!" _

_"Come on!" Chris yelled, grabbing his newly wedded wife's hand and they raced out into the burning kingdom, which would soon be destroyed forever . . ._

Anna stared at the stone as she stared up at Chris, her true love. "We were married that day," she whispered. "The day that the Moon Kingdom was destroyed, we had run away to get married. And this stone was a symbol of our love for each other."

Holding it in her palm, she linked his hand with hers and the soft glow that she remembered emerged from it. She smiled up at Chris and whispered softly, "I will never stop loving you." His green eyes were still unfocused, but Anna felt his love emerging from the stone. It knew the truth of his heart and so did she.

"Chris, I love you," she whispered, feeling his hand slowly tight around hers. "Can you hear me? I love you, Chris, please hear me." She prayed he could hear her as his head slowly slumped onto her shoulder and she held him, not letting go of his hand or the stone. "Come back to me," she whispered as she lifted his chin up and kissed him. Wrapping her free arm around his neck, she felt him kissing her back as he wrapped his other arm around her.

Slowly, she pulled back and stared up at his green eyes, which were filled with amazement and shock. "Oh, thank goodness," she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him. "I thought I lost you."

"You almost did," Chris whispered as he held her. "What's going on? What are we doing here?" He looked around Mugan School in confusion. "How did I get here?"

"Long story," Anna said weakly. "No, actually, it's short. You were being controlled by the enemy, who wanted to steal something called the heart crystals, whatever they are."

"They're what keep people alive," Luna answered, appearing beside her. "The heart crystals are the crystals within good people, the crystal of their pure hearts. It's what the enemy has been after, all this time."

Chris stared. "That cat just talked!"

"Yeah," Anna said dryly. "Yeah, she did. You'll get used to it." She handed the stone back to Chris, who took it, staring down at it, startled. "Here, you might want this back. I don't know how, but apparently it's a stone which represents our love that we got back on the Moon."

"Anna . . . what happened to it?" Chris whispered, still staring down at it. She blinked, then stared down at the stone and gasped.

Before, the crystal had been dull and battered, not much to look at. Now, its surface had been run smooth, like the stones that were found near the ocean, rubbed smooth by the waves. It held an inner glow that radiated silver and lilac from it.

Luna gasped when she saw it. "A Stone of Love!" she exclaimed, looking amazed at the two. "Don't tell me that the two of you got married during the days of the Moon Kingdom!"

"Of course not—" Chris turned to look at Anna, who was turning an interesting shade of red. "Did we?"

"Apparently," Anna said, still blushing. "Don't give me that look, Chris! I just remembered a few seconds ago! How'd you know, anyway, Luna?" she asked the guardian cat.

Luna sighed. "The Stone of Love, Anna, is a symbol of love for one another, so strong that nothing can break it apart and is created upon the union of two people. As long as you remember how much you love each other, you can summon its power and use its light to bring forth magic beyond your wildest dreams.

"But more on that later," she added, looking towards the fallen students. "We have to rescue the students!"

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"Transform!" Luna looked exasperatedly at her, rolling her eyes in a very un-catlike way. "Become Sailor Selene!"

Anna paused. "Oh." She glanced at Chris, who was trying very hard not to smile. "Stop laughing, mister," she ordered as she pulled the locket out of her pocket. "Moon Selene Power!"

Instantly, her body was spun across the stars and the lilac and silver uniform of Sailor Selene appeared on her body. She felt the gloves and boots emerge onto her arms and legs and the lilac tiara slid into place in the middle of her forehead.

The moment that she landed, Chris wolf-whistled, making her blush. "I could get used to this," he teased.

"Shut up," she warned. "Before I release my wrath onto you." Luna shook her head. "All right. Selene Moonlight!" She raised her hand and the stream of moonlight appeared from it, flowing across the room and stopping the heart crystals from continuing their process into the enemy's domain.

Blocked by the passage of moonlight, the crystals had nowhere to go but to return to their proper owners, one by one. Anna struggled to keep up her powers, which were so new to her, and finally, she let go of the spell.

Instantly, the moonlight faded, but by then, the crystals were returned and students were waking up, groaning slightly. Anna let out a sigh of relief and was about to relax just as she noticed the building was shaking and debris was starting to fall.

"Everybody out!" Chris yelled. "Earthquake!"

Screams of panic and alarm echoed throughout the school as students raced to get themselves to safety. Anna created another moonlight stream to try and hold the building into place, but she knew that she could only hold onto for so long.

"Come on!" Chris grabbed her hand as her spell broke. Thankfully, the students were already out. "Anna, come on, we've got to get out of here!"

"But Serena and the others!" Anna protested.

"They'll be fine!" A green haired Sailor Scout appeared beside her. "We have to get out of here. Don't worry, your sister will get herself out of this mess; she always seems to find a way. I'm Sailor Pluto," she explained to Anna's questioning look. "One of the outer Sailor Scouts."

"Oh." Anna glanced at Chris as they raced out of the building. "Just how many Sailor Scouts are there, anyway?"

"Eleven, if you count yourself and Mini-Moon," Pluto answered. Her dark eyes were on the building.

"Mini-Moon?" Chris echoed, looking confused, but Anna suddenly understood, her mind flashing back to that day in Serena's bedroom, when Rini had called her "Auntie Anna."

"Rini," she muttered. "Of course." Shaking her head, Anna wondered how she could've missed that. After all, Rini had _told_ her who she was, but she had dismissed it as a little girl's fantasy. "She's Serena's daughter, from the future. Rini is my niece."

"Yes." Pluto gasped as movement caught Anna's eye and she turned, relieved to see the Scouts running from the crumbling building.

But her relief soon turned to horror as she saw Rini lying in Serena's arms, looking pale and motionless as if . . .

As if she were dead.


	11. Heading for Battle

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Eleven: Heading for Battle

Anna watched as Darien held Rini in his arms, an unearthly glow emitting from around her as she was held by her father. She shivered slightly, staring at her future niece with a mixture of fear and anxiety. Feeling Chris touch her shoulder, she leaned back against him, resting her head onto his chest.

"She seems to be stabilising in your arms, Darien," Artemis observed as he and Luna sat next to the future King and Queen of the Earth. Serena sat next to her daughter and future husband, her face filled with grief. "His life energy will keep her alive. It's all we can do right now."

"We've got to get her heart crystal back," Anna said quietly. The other Sailor Scouts nodded in agreement as the door opened. Turning around, she saw the green haired Trista standing behind them.

"Uranus, Neptune, and I are going to Mugan School to try and destroy the Sovereign of Silence." Gasps met her sentence and Lita stood up, staring at Trista in horror.

"But don't you know—"

"The Sovereign of Silence is Hotaru," Raye finished up for her friend.

Trista sighed. "It's the only way to save Rini's life; it's our only option," she answered. Without another word, she left the room, leaving Anna staring after her.

"What are we fighting for?" Serena's voice was shaking as Anna looked towards her twin. "Rini's in this horrible danger and I want her back. But . . . I also want Hotaru back, for Rini's sake." She sighed and looked towards Anna, who met her eyes.

"Then let's go," Anna said simply. All of the Scouts looked towards her. "We're Sailor Scouts, aren't we? That's got to stand for something. Serena, we fight evil whenever it threatens us or the people we care about. And that is what separates us from the evil ones who threaten our world. If we just stand by, then we're no better than they are. I say we go to Mugan School and finish these heart snatchers once and for all." She folded her arms across her chest. "Come on, let's go save Hotaru and your daughter, sister."

Serena smiled and the sisters clasped hands. "You're right. We need to finish this," she agreed, looking at the other Scouts. "Everybody in?"

"What about you guys?" Raye asked, looking around at Darien and Chris. "Will you be all right by yourselves?"

Darien looked up, about to answer, when Chris said, "Don't worry, we'll be fine. You just go save Rini." Anna smiled as he took her head, leading her out to the balcony.

"What are they doing?" she heard Mina ask.

"Let them alone for a minute," Serena answered softly. Anna glanced behind her as her sister smiled sadly at her before closing the door.

"Here," Chris said softly, placing the Stone into her hand. She stared at it before looking up at him. "You might need this, Anna. Besides, I'll feel better about you leaving to go face danger unimaginable if you had it with you." He closed her hand around it.

"Chris, what about you?" she asked, slipping her free hand into his. "I don't like leaving you here without some kind of defence. What if something happens? What if the heart—" She was silenced when Chris drew her into a tender kiss, cutting her words short.

Feeling as though they were the only two people in the world, Anna allowed herself to be lost in the kiss. When she finally pulled away, she saw that Chris was smiling at her.

"Nothing will happen to me," he assured her. His green eyes were looking straight into her sky-blue ones in a way that she felt as though she were everywhere at once. "Not unless the heart snatchers win this round. And then we're not the only ones who are going to be in danger."

Anna nodded slowly, burying her head into Chris's jacket. His arms wrapped around her, stroking her brown hair gently. "I love you, Chris," she whispered. "Past or no, I will always love you."

"I love you, too," Chris said softly, pulling away so that he could look at her directly into the eyes. "Take the Stone, Anna. That way, I'll be right with you out there. And I'll be waiting for you when you come back. Now go," he ordered with a small, sad smile. "Bring back our niece."

Smiling back at him, Anna kissed him again. "Keep a weather eye on the horizon," she whispered.

With one last glance back towards her love, Anna headed back into the apartment, where the girls were waiting. "Let's go," she said firmly. Following them, Anna didn't dare look back, because she knew that if she did, then she would never leave, not wanting to be away from Chris's side.

--

As she walked through the streets of Tokyo, her sister and friends right by her side, Anna felt a strange mixture of sadness and hope. She knew perfectly well that she might not make it out alive this time, but . . . it felt so right to have her sister by her side. And this time, in this lifetime, she was included, was walking alongside her sister.

"There's the school," Amy said quietly. Anna shivered slightly, shoving her hands into her pockets as she gazed up at the school. Somewhere inside was Hotaru, whose body was possessed by the Sovereign of Silence. And Rini's heart crystal.

Rini, who was in horrible danger of dying, who was so bright and caring. Anna couldn't imagine a future that didn't include the little girl. They just _had_ to save her!

"Come on, you guys, let's get this over with," Anna said, pulling out her own transformation locket. Her fingers brushed over the silver moon engraved onto it. "Moon Selene Power!"

She heard the other girls' chant their transformation spell, but it was soon drowned out as she was whisked away across the stars. Silver ribbons flowed around her, replacing her civilian clothes with the outfit of Sailor Selene. As the lilac and gold tiara slid across her forehead, Anna landed back onto the sidewalk, looking around at the other girls.

"Let's go," Serena said, changed into Sailor Moon. They needed no more encouragement as they took off down the sidewalk, heading for Mugan School. Just as they were within reach of the building, Raye suddenly stopped and Anna almost crashed into her from behind.

"What?" she grumbled.

"I don't know," Raye said quietly, her dark eyes on the school. "But there's something going on up there! Look! All around the building. I'm sure that you'll see it," she added. All of them looked around and sure enough, Anna saw the slimy scarlet monsters that were exploding around the building, shielding it from intruders.

"I don't think that we're gonna be able to get inside that way," Anna said grimly. "Don't suppose that this Sailor stuff comes with any . . . I don't know, broomstick riding? Flying through space on a beam of light?" She looked at the others, only kidding, when they looked surprised.

"Not a bad idea," Serena said, looking around at the others. "We'll do a Sailor teleport to get into the building. Think it'll be strong enough to get through?"

"Watch out!" Lita warned. "They're gonna attack!"

"Moon Heartache Attack!" Serena shouted, aiming her wand towards the monsters as they swarmed towards the girls. Anna shrieked as she ducked for cover, glancing up at the cloudy and dark sky.

"Selene Moonlight!" The bright silvery light swirled from her hand, blasting the monsters away from them and dissolving in front of her eyes. She scrambled to her feet and sent the moonlight towards the Amy as she was being suffocated by one of them.

"You all right, Mercury?" she asked, helping the other girl to her feet. Amy nodded as the monsters attacked again.

"Sailor Selene!" Lita yelled. "Do that moonlight thing again. We're going to force them back and then transport inside. Hurry!"

Anna made no comments as they raced over to the other girls and she sent the moonlight towards the monsters as they resumed their assault. They screeched as the silver light hit them, unable to stand its purity and brightness, and either retreated or were destroyed. Raye blasted some of them with her fire, Lita hit them with her lightning bolts, Amy froze some of them with her ice, and Mina exploded some of them with her love chain. Serena did the last attack, using her heart wand to send them far enough away.

"Okay, now!" Lita shouted, but Anna noticed something that the other girls hadn't. Coming out from seemingly nowhere was an oddly coloured hand, heading straight for her sister!

"Serena, look out!" Anna lunged towards Serena, but only managed to catch her; the hand already grabbed hold of her.

Managing to get a firm grip on Serena's vest, Anna struggled to pull her sister away from the portal. She felt the other girls grabbing hold of them, trying to pull them back, but the hand gave a hard, firm tug and the twins were whisked away through the portal.

Anna wanted to scream as they were pulled through a very tight hole and then dumped into seemingly nothingness. Her sky-blue eyes drifted around the room and she felt someone turn her over.

She smiled slightly as she caught sight of the green eyes. "Chris," she murmured, "you found me."

Then she lost consciousness.


	12. Cale

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Twelve: Cale

"I'm going to go help the others!" Chris yelled at her, pushing her towards the palace. "Anna, you go back to the palace, okay, and stay there! I'll come and get you when it's safe! Please, just go!" His voice was pleading as she stared at her husband, helpless.

_"No," she whispered. She shook her head. "Chris, I can't. I can't leave you. Not here." _Not in this place, _she thought. Another blast exploded near them and Chris's grip on her tightened. "I don't think we'll be able to stop them. They want to destroy us all." _

_"And you're in more danger than I am," Chris pointed out. He looked afraid and worried. "You're Queen Serenity's daughter, even if you weren't raised in the palace. They'll want you dead at all costs. Just get to the safest place that you know." _

_Anna raised her head to look at him straight into his green eyes. "I already am," she informed him. Chris's eyes narrowed in confusion. "The safest place that I know is with you." _

_A glimmer of a smile crossed his face and he pulled Anna into a tight hug, holding her tightly against him. She closed her eyes, wishing that they could stay like this forever. _

_The screams that emerged nearby reminded them of where they were and what was happening. Without hesitation, Chris grabbed Anna's hand and both of them raced towards the battle, not thinking about the danger. At this point, it really didn't matter. Everywhere was dangerous to be. The mass of people that were running for fear for their lives slammed into the couple. Anna was shoved to the ground, Chris suddenly separated from her. _

_"Chris!" Anna scrambled to her feet, looking around for him, but no one took notice of the young princess. _

_Ignoring all screams of protest, Anna raced through the crowd, searching frantically for her husband. "Chris, where are you?" she whispered. She nearly screamed when she saw the figure that was in front of her. "Chris!" _

_But her husband wasn't alone. Standing next to him was a man with long, white hair and cold, steel eyes. And he had a sword at the base of Chris's neck. Chris himself was bound and gagged, staring helplessly at his wife as she stared at him, fearful for his life. _

_"What do we have here?" his captor asked curiously. "The Princess Annalise, isn't it? I wouldn't think that commoners would be worth your while." He smirked. "Don't get involved in this, little princess, and I'll make your death painless." _

_"Let go of my husband," Anna snarled, wishing that she at least had a sword or something to fight him with. All she had at the moment were her bare hands and her common sense. _

_"Husband?" The man laughed. "So the Royal Family going for commoners nowadays? My queen will be interested to know that. Anything that you'd like to say to your husband before I run him through?" _

_Anna froze, panic rising through her as she stared into Chris's green eyes. She had to come up with something and fast. _

"When you find yourself with no way out, look to the light within you," _Tristan had once told her. _"Look within yourself, Anna, and you will find the light that will guide your way." _It was the last thing that he had ever told her, on his deathbed. _

_She obeyed her old mentor for the last time, searching deep within herself. And she remembered her fascination with an old legend, of her own ancestor Selene, through her mother's lineage. _

_Selene was a goddess of the moon who would chase her brother Helios, the sun, across the night sky. Thus, the moon would appear before the people of earth and give them light during the night. _

_Anna swallowed, praying this would work, and closed her eyes, searching for the light within herself. "Selene Moonlight!" she yelled, thrusting out her hand towards the man. _

_Although she hadn't expected anything to happen, a brilliant white light exploded from the palm of her hand and flew towards the man, blasting him off of his feet. Anna wasted no time in racing towards Chris, untying his bounds. _

_"How'd you do that?" he coughed when he was able to talk. She shook her head, not understand how she'd done it either. _

_"I'm not sure." Anna stared down at her hands, wondering what exactly_ had_ occurred when Chris pushed her roughly towards the palace. _

_"Please, Anna, get yourself to the palace. For me?" he added when she hesitated. _

_Only he would pull that trick on her, she thought grumpily as she headed towards the palace. But she knew as well as he did that he wasn't going to meet up with her later. Because the Moon Kingdom would soon forever be destroyed and although she tried to save as many people as she could on her way there, Anna knew it was hopeless. The only way to save them would to be a powerful spell to banish the Negaverse and send everyone on the Moon to a new future. But to save the Moon Kingdom was hopeless. _

But they had to try.

Anna groaned slightly as she felt herself waking up. She really didn't want to get up; every bone in her body ached and she felt all so tired. Why was so she weary? Did she stay up all night or something? What had happened?

"Come on, Mom, you got to get up."

But she wanted to sleep; she didn't want to get up. And who was the person that was talking to her and why were they calling her 'Mom'? Last time she checked, she didn't have any kids. She was _sure_ that she would remember something like that.

"Go away," she grunted as she felt someone shaking her.

"Can't do that. Come on, Mom, Aunt Serena needs your help. Mom, please get up?" The voice was persistent. "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom—"

"All right!" More to get the person to stop rather than actually wanting to, Anna pushed herself off of the floor, sitting up straight. She regretted this immediately, because the action made her head hurt _really_ hard. Groaning, she massaged her head before turning to look at the kid who was sitting beside her. "Happy now?"

"I'm satisfied," he said with a shrug. Anna rolled her eyes before she studied him carefully.

He looked to be about seven or eight—maybe even nine. Around Rini's age, she would guess. His brunette hair hung continuously around his youthful face with a look of casual elegance, and into his green eyes. Those eyes she knew immediately, because another who had these eyes had looked into her eyes and saw her for who she was, straight down into her soul. But the owner of those eyes was not the kid who stood before her.

And he didn't even look like Chris, just had his eyes. Sure, he had a few similarities to the love of her life, but he wasn't Chris. In fact, he bore more of a resemblance to . . .

Her.

Anna realised that she was staring and tried to pull her gaze away from him, but couldn't. "Who—who are you?" she whispered.

The kid managed a weak smile and her heart skipped a beat. That smile was her own; the one she used whenever she was nervous. "Me?" he said simply. "I'm from the future."

If he had said that he had come from outer space, then she wouldn't have been much more surprised. "What?!"

"Mom, relax," he pleaded. Anna's mouth went dry when he said that and she shook her head disbelieving.

"You're my son?"

"Yeah. Bit of a disappointment?" He looked at her with the look of someone who wanted her approval so badly, but was trying to put on a brave face. That was something she'd be trying to do as of late.

"Of course not!" Anna said fiercely, all weariness gone. "Why would you think that? It's just a bit of a surprise, that's all."

Her future son grinned slightly. "Oh. Okay, then. Are you okay?"

"You mean, considering that I've been sucked through a portal, tackled by those slimy monsters, and am probably this close to losing this battle and the earth falling into darkness?" Anna smiled weakly at her son. "I'm doing pretty good."

"Sure." He smiled as he sat back. "My name's Cale, by the way. Caleb, actually, but people just call me Cale." He stood up. "Come on, we've got to go find Aunt Serena. She's in trouble."

"Wait, how do you know that she's . . ." Anna shook her head. "You know what? I don't need to know. What I do need to know is what exactly is going on and how did you know where to come to?"

"Cliff notes version?" Cale asked. "Aunt Serena got captured by Mistress Nine and is now being held by her to surrender the Purity Chalice. Uranus and Neptune are probably going to be captured any moment, so unless we want Aunt Serena to surrender the chalice, we should go and stop her." He paused. "You know, I never did understand what cliff notes are."

"Well, they're these notes that you use to—" Anna stopped herself. "I'll explain it to you later. How did you find me, anyway?"

Cale grinned sheepishly and pulled something out of his pocket, handing it over to his mother. Anna stared down at it, reaching for the cord that hung underneath her sailor outfit.

Holding the two Stones in her hand, Anna looked back and forth between them. "Where did you get this?" she breathed, staring at Cale.

"You gave it to me when Aunt Serena sent me here," Cale explained. "To help save Rini. She might annoy me a lot, but she's still my cousin. I guess you know about that."

Anna stared at her son and thought about her problems with her family back on the Moon and now with her problems with her earth family. And still, she had forgiven them for everything that they'd done to her because they were her family. For better or worse, they were the ties that bind.

"Yeah," Anna said softly as she handed the future Stone to her son. "Yeah, I do." She closed her eyes and looked around at the cave that they were standing in. It wasn't much to look at. "So do you have any idea how to find Serena?"

Cale looked surprised. "No, I was hoping that you would."

"You were hoping that _I_ would?" Anna was incredulous. "What would make you think that?"

"Because you can always sense Aunt Serena in the future. You know where she's at and can find her whenever you want to. Come on, Mom," he said impatiently. "You two are twins, aren't you?"

Anna sighed. "Biologically, yes, but—"

"What else do we have to lose?" Cale looked desperate. "Mom, please, just go ahead and try. Please?" he said, pleadingly.

"Not even married and already I'm a mother," Anna muttered under her breath. Not that it was a bad thing, but this was just making this a lot more complicated.

Slowly, she closed her eyes and turned to her past life, to Annalise. She searched for the link that would lead her to Serena, Princess Serenity. It was faint and Anna could barely get a glimpse of it, but it was there.

Before she could comment on this, it flared brighter and a ghostly figure of Princess Serena appeared in her mind's eye. "Help me, Annalise," she whispered. "Help me, sister."

And then she vanished.


	13. The Silver Knight

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Thirteen: The Silver Knight

Chris watched Darien as he held his daughter in his arms, the eerie light emitting from the little girl. A knot emerged in his throat as he glanced outside at the sky. The night was unnaturally dark, only a glimmer of what the night sky was supposed to look like.

Tonight was the new moon, which wasn't unusual, but the dark side of the moon always made Chris a little worried, especially since the love of his life and her sister and friends were in danger. Not to mention, the stars had completely disappeared from the heavens. No light would shine this night to keep some hope in the world.

No light, save for Sailor Selene. Her light would be enough to shine from whatever darkness she was in. He had faith in Anna, always had and always would, no matter when they were.

But he knew that she was in danger, more so than the other girls, except maybe Serena. He could sense it, emitting from the darkness of Mugan School. That place had always given him the creeps, but that was only a glimmer of the way that he was feeling now.

He had to go help her. Chris may have faith in Anna, but that didn't mean he was crazy. She might not be able to do this alone.

"I'm going down there," Chris announced, getting to his feet. Darien glanced up at him, hardly surprised, but the two cats were startled.

"Lord Christopher, you cannot go down there," Luna admonished. "This is a job for Sailor Scouts. Anna will be all right," she added more kindly. "So will everyone else. But going down there now could seal her fate to whatever danger she is in."

"I don't care," Chris snapped. "That's not going to stop me, Luna. Sailor Scout or not, Anna can't do this by herself." He paused. "You said that my mother on the moon was a noblewoman, right? But she chose to marry beneath her, a commoner?"

"Yes, that's right," Artemis said, nodding. "It was a scandal at the time, the first time that anyone had ever done such a thing."

"Well, my earth mother taught me that nobility isn't a birthright. It's defined by one's actions." Chris stared them down. "And leaving her to face danger unimaginable and just sitting here doing nothing isn't very noble, now is it?"

"He's right," Darien spoke up, startling them. "It'd be different if he had a child to protect, Luna. But all he's doing is just sitting here, imagining what could be happening down at the school. And he's not doing anybody any good doing that. Not us, not Serena, not Anna, not any of the girls. Not even himself." He took a deep breath. "Let him go. They may need him."

_"Thank you,"_ Chris mouthed at him while the cats stared open mouthed at the Prince. Darien winked at him.

"This is a very bad idea," Luna muttered as Chris hurried out the door and down the steps, exiting the apartment building. He knew that he didn't have much time, every second counted. Anna's fear was building with every step that he took.

As another wave of fear and anxiety swarmed him, Chris screamed, "ANNA!" But the voice that screamed the name wasn't Chris Evans, but rather Christopher of the Moon Kingdom, the man who had risked everything to be with the woman he loved, the Princess Annalise.

It happened instantaneously. One minute he was racing along the street and the next he felt warmth stretch to the very tips of his fingers, spreading throughout his entire body. He looked down.

His simple street clothes were melting away, shimmering into chain-mail that shielded his body from danger. Atop of this was a surcoat, like the knights of old used to wear, made of sturdy material and were squares of silver and lilac. On the lilac pattern above his heart, was the symbol on Anna's transformation locket. The golden heart surrounded by a crescent moon. A helmet spread across his head and across his eyes, covering part of his face. He could still see from it, but unless his helmet got knocked off, he would have no trouble keeping his identity.

"You must go now, Lord Christopher," a familiar voice said. Chris looked up as a woman appeared before him. Due to her resemblance to Serena, he knew instantly who the woman was.

"Queen Serenity," he said quietly, giving a short bow. She stopped him before he finished.

"There is no need, son," she said softly. "You have proven your worth by giving your life trying to save my daughter in the past and by trying to help her now." She sighed. "I was proud and unforgiving, wanting only to harm my husband for keeping our child secret, even from me. And in that, I only ended up hurting Annalise for that. She loved you and was heartsick for you, in all the time that she was at the palace. And she longs for you now, in this time. The two of you have chosen your paths." She shook her head. "I destroyed something between my daughter and myself in order to return her to what she was supposed to be. I never thought that what she wanted she had all along. It should've occurred to me; I should have looked closer, to the girl she was and not whom I wanted her to be. One day, I will ask for both of your forgiveness."

"Your Highness, she forgave you a long time ago." Chris was certain of this. "I know that. Even if we ran away, disobeyed the Council in order to get married, she still loved you and Serena. If she hadn't, she wouldn't be risking her life trying to protect the world that you sent us to. She wouldn't be trying so hard to protect the future."

Queen Serenity looked at him sharply. "Annalise made a good choice," she said sadly. "Her judgement was better than mine. She married for love; I married for duty. And I think that made all the difference. It was probably what caused all of this."

"What is this, anyway?" Chris looked down at the knight uniform that he was wearing.

"It was a disguise that I gave you, much like Darien's, only you draw your power from the Moon. Your mother was a dear friend of mine and I never should have turned her away when she asked for help. I should have helped her and your father." She smiled. "But now I can help her son. You are the Silver Knight, the consort of Sailor Selene and her guardian. Help her now."

"You had something to do with our finding our way back to each other, didn't you?" Chris couldn't imagine how she couldn't. They had found their way back to each other altogether too fast for it not to be.

"I had to do a little rearranging with Anna's life for her to find you again," Queen Serenity sighed. "She will have to make a choice at the end of all of this. And the choice will ultimately decide her destiny for her. She must choose between the life she's always known and the life that she was before."

Chris didn't like the sound of that, but Queen Serenity only smiled assuredly at him. "The ones that we love always come back to us, Christopher," she told him. "And righteousness is rewarded. Remember that, son, and live by it." She reached out and held his head in it for a moment. "You are truly your mother's son. Nancy is so proud of you."

The name startled him so much that he gaped at the Queen. "Wait—how do you know my mother's name? My earth mother, I mean?"

"Because in both this time and on the Moon, she was your mother," Queen Serenity answered. "I made sure of that. Now I leave my daughters' fates to you, as well as my grandchildren. Your bond with my daughter is strong, Christopher, and can help you find her. Trust in it."

With a small smile at him, she disappeared in a shimmer of moonlight, similar to Anna's Moonlight attack. Chris stood still for a minute, staring at where the Queen had been, before his reason caught up with his senses.

"Anna," he muttered and started running towards the school, trying to get there as fast as he could. She needed him here and now; he could feel it. He could feel her fear as his own.

Just as Mugan swarmed into view, he saw the forms of the Sailor Scouts up ahead. One, two, three . . . wait, only four?

Panic rose through Chris as he ran, yanking off the helmet and revealing himself to the other Scouts. "Amy!" he yelled towards the blue-haired Scout, but froze when he saw the state that she was in. The others weren't much better, he realised when he got a good look at them. All four of them were injured, wounded, and weary, barely even conscious as he stepped closer. "Amy, where's Anna and Serena?" he asked, looking around at the mass of debris that lay around them. He'd felt a tremor in the earth earlier; this must have been what that was. Mugan had completely been demolished.

"Inside," Amy mumbled. Her blue eyes found Chris's and she pushed him away. "Go," she ordered. "They need you."

Chris was half-afraid of what he would find, but he obeyed, racing towards what was left of the school. It was hard to find his way, because everything was destroyed, not to mention different dimensions were running together, but he finally managed to find the way towards Anna and Serena.

But the image that he found was not the one that he had ever expected to find her with.


	14. An Unforeseen Friendship

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Fourteen: An Unforeseen Friendship

Anna raced through the different dimensions, struggling to figure out where her sister was. It wasn't easy, though, the only thing she had to go on was the fragile and imperceptible link between the two and that was hardly even worth it. But she knew that her sister was in trouble; she could sense that, even through the feeble link.

"Mom, wait up!" Anna stopped and waited for Cale to catch up with her, his chest heaving as he tried to keep up with her strides. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Couldn't keep up with you running."

"Sweetie, maybe you should go wait with the other Scouts," Anna suggested, worried about his safety, but he shook his head.

"I can't, Aunt Serena's in trouble and Rini, too," he insisted. "You wouldn't leave them here and neither am I."

With a small, wry smile, Anna shook her head. He was just as stubborn as she was, maybe even more. "Probably a family trait," she muttered, shaking her head, absently reaching for the Stone of Love, tightening her grip on it. "All right, but you find a hiding place as soon as we get inside and stay there, you hear me?"

"Yeah," Cale said absently. Anna rolled her eyes, having the distinct impression that the boy wasn't paying the least bit of attention to her instructions.

"And stay there," she repeated more forcibly, bending down and lifting his chin up so that he was looking at her. He made a face but gave her his full attention. "Do not move from that spot unless I or one of the scouts comes and gets you."

"Fine." Cale crossed his arms across his chest, his sky-blue eyes fastening on something that was behind them. Anna turned and frowned slightly. "Was that there a second ago?" she questioned, tugging on a curl of her brown hair.

"Nope."

"Didn't think so. Come on," she said, taking his hand. Mother and son headed straight into the different dimension, where Anna was hardly surprised to find her sister there, with Mistress Nine. But what did surprise her was that they weren't the only ones there.

"Uranus, Neptune!" she exclaimed, staring in shock at the older Scouts who were trapped in a huge statue. "What happened?" She hurried over to them, Cale at her heels, looking for a way to bail them out.

"Never mind us!" Uranus half-snapped, half-screamed at her. "Stop your sister!"

"Huh?" Anna turned around, looking at Serena for the first time. That was all it took for her to see Serena hand over the beautiful chalice that was in her hands to the man in front of her—Hotaru's father. "Serena, NO!" She didn't know why she screamed at her, but she felt danger looming closer. It pounded in her ears as she raced towards the two.

But by the time that she had gotten there, it was already too late, Mistress Nine flung Dr. Tomoe aside and seized the chalice. Anna glanced behind her, hoping that Cale listened to her and gotten to a safe hiding place. Assuming so, since she couldn't see him anywhere, Anna turned her attention back to the battle as Mistress Nine shoved the chalice into a device. She didn't know what it did, nor did she know how it worked. All she knew was that whatever it did, it would not be good for Earth.

"I'm assuming that you have a plan?" Anna threw at her sister. Serena looked helplessly at her.

"I was just trying to help Hotaru," she whispered. Anna sighed; she didn't want to sacrifice that innocent girl any more than Serena did, but she kind of agreed with the outer Scouts. Between Hotaru and Rini, she would pick her niece.

"This is a war, Serena! Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices!" Anna yelled at her, furious. Her sister looked hurt and she chided herself for losing her temper. "I'm not going to argue with you right now, okay? But we have to stop this," she said, nodding to the evil that was emerging from the . . . whatever it was.

A scream emerged from somewhere and instinctually, Anna whirled around, seeing Mistress Nine about to attack a kid. Anger, fear, fury and rage flowed through her and with adrenaline pumping through her, she charged at Mistress Nine.

"NOT MY SON, YOU DEMON!" Mistress Nine turned just in time to see the furious and enraged Sailor Selene two feet in front of her before she was hit with a powerful moonlight blast and flung backwards.

Anna was breathing heavily, eyes like daggers as she glared at the fallen woman. Mistress Nine stared at her with shock in her eyes and Serena screamed. "You lay one finger on him," she said in a quiet voice that nonetheless carried to the further reaches of the room. "And I'll kill you." She meant it too; no one hurt her family unless they wanted to answer to her. And she wouldn't sit still and watch them hurt her boy.

Just as she was seconds away from delivering the final blow, she heard a voice yell, "Anna!"

Stopping where she was, Anna whirled around to see a knight racing towards her. "Chris?" she asked cautiously, not at all certain that it was him because his face was covered by the helmet. He yanked it off, revealing the handsome face of her love. "What the—how did you get here?"

"Never mind that," Chris snapped, yanking her away from Mistress Nine. "What do you think that you're doing?"

Anna opened her mouth to explain when Cale interrupted him, "It's not her fault; she was trying to protect me, Dad."

Chris stopped for a minute, turning towards him. "Well, that's completely—" Then comprehension dawned on his face. "Wait a minute, what did you just call me?"

"Okay, long story short, this is our son Cale from the future," Anna said hastily. "We really don't have time to get into it right now."

"Whoa, our _son_?"

"Yep. Probably the first to be born into the Moon Kingdom line in over a thousand generations," Anna added musingly.

"Ten thousand, actually," Cale said with a grin towards his mother while his father's mouth hung open.

"Oh, really?"

Putting two fingers into his mouth, Chris released an ear-piercing whistle that was nevertheless effective in its purpose. It got both Anna and Cale's attention. "Jeez, Chris!" Anna grumbled, turning around to look at the father of her future child.

"Well, I think we got more important things to worry about," Chris said, pointing towards the portal that was opening up to the Heart Snatchers' master, Pharaoh 90. Mistress Nine was standing in the middle, helping to open the portal.

Anna's eyes widened as a burst of energy blasted out of the portal, hitting Mistress Nine head on. She shrieked as Chris seized her and Cale both, yanking them down. Pulling her son closer to her, she held on to him tightly as Chris planted himself firmly between them and Pharaoh 90.

Inexplicably, just as the energy blast vanished, she saw Serena standing in front of Mistress Nine and Dr. Tomoe. But she wasn't sure that it was Mistress Nine . . . at least, not at the moment.

"Stay down," Anna said softly, releasing her son. Cale obeyed, hiding behind a piece of debris, but keeping an eye on what's happening. She stood up with Chris, hurrying over to Serena.

"Sis, you all right?" she asked, helping her sister up. Serena nodded, obviously too exhausted to say anything, as Hotaru opened her eyes.

"Daddy?" she asked softly, her voice weak. Anna whirled around, hardly believing her eyes as she saw the warm and friendly eyes of Hotaru Tomoe and not the cold ones of Mistress Nine.

"H—Hotaru?" Dr. Tomoe asked, looking thrilled and ecstatic. Anna looked at Chris.

"It's not going to last for very long," Anna said sadly. Even Serena looked at her. "Mistress Nine still exists. We haven't defeated her yet." She had no sooner spoken than the evil demon within Hotaru took control of her body, both beings fighting for control.

"What can we do?" Chris said unhappily.

"Unfortunately, not much," Anna said grimly. "But she's one of us, Chris. The Sailor Scout of Destruction, Sailor Saturn. We might be able to pull the Sailor Scout out to destroy Mistress Nine."

"But isn't Saturn the Dark Sailor Scout?"

Anna didn't answer, because one again, in the midst of battle, her mind was being pulled away in a different direction.

_Seven-year-old Anna walked down from the cottage that she lived with Tristan and headed down to the lake, tracing her finger in it, causing ripples to appear. She giggled happily, but stopped when she heard the sound of crying not too far away._

_Standing up, she hurried towards the sound to see a girl with short black hair wearing a Sailor outfit sitting beneath a tree in the garden, crying her eyes out. "Hullo," she said cautiously, stepping closer. _

_The girl looked up and Anna took a step back. She knew of this girl; they called her the Sailor Scout of Death or Destruction. An evil Sailor Scout. But she didn't look evil or even mean. She just looked sad. Anna kind of felt sorry for her and walked over to her. _

_"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously, making her decision and sitting down next to Sailor Saturn. "Tristan's not here, you know, if you're looking for him." _

_The girl smiled weakly through her tears, but shook her head. "No, I just wanted to . . ." She stopped. "I don't know. People are always scared of me, you know? They call me the Dark Sailor Scout. All I want is a friend, someone that I can talk to." _

_"You're talking to me," Anna pointed out. She smiled when Saturn laughed, shaking her head at the little girl. _

_"You're a funny little girl," she said, but she was smiling. "What's your name, anyway?" _

_"I'm Anna." _

_"Who are your parents?" Saturn asked, cocking her head to survey Anna curiously. Something about those violet eyes seemed to stare straight into her, seeing her in a way that no one else can. _

_"Don't know. Tristan won't tell me. I guess they died a long time ago or something, because I've never seen them." _

_"How long have you lived with Tristan?" _

_"Since forever. I came here when I was born and have lived with him ever since." Anna shifted uncomfortably around the mention of her parents. She didn't like talking about it, because she didn't know that much about them. All she really knew was that they weren't able to take care of her now._

_"What's that for?" she asked, noticing the weapon that lay next to her and pointing to it. _

_"My glaive? It amplifies my powers," Saturn answered, still studying her. "It represents my planet." _

_"Can you really destroy a planet?" Anna asked, making a crown out of the flowers that were growing in the garden. _

_"I can, but I wouldn't. It would jeopardise my duty as a Sailor Scout." Anna nodded. "But because of those powers, people are scared of me and my powers." She sighed. "Sometimes, it feels like I don't have anybody or anyone in the world." _

_"Sometimes I feel like that, too. Everybody does," Anna said helpfully. "When I think about my mother or father, I think that they don't care about me enough to find me or let Tristan know who I am." She smiled. "Then I think of Chris and it makes me feel better." _

_"Is Chris a friend of yours?" _

_"Uh-huh. I'm gonna marry him when I get older." Anna frowned indignantly when Saturn chuckled. "I will!" _

_"I believe you will," Saturn said softly. Her laughter ceased. "But even you have someone to help bring light into your life. I don't. Not a friend in the world." _

_"Yes, you do." Anna smiled when Saturn looked at her curiously. "Because I'll be your friend. And I think that sometime in the future, someone else will befriend you, too." _

_Saturn smiled, hugged the girl and stood up. "You've made me feel happier than I've felt in years, Annalise," she said softly. "A true princess. Never let anyone tell you otherwise."_

Anna pulled herself into the present and walked forward, next to Dr. Tomoe and Hotaru. "Saturn?" she called, ignoring the shocked looks of Chris and Serena, the horrified looks of Neptune and Uranus, and the anticipation of Cale. "Saturn, it's Annalise. We need you here, to help us in this time. Your friend Rini needs you to save her. Please, awaken. We are doomed if you don't help us. Sailor Saturn, come to us now!"


	15. Planet Power Unite

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Fifteen: Planet Power Unite

When they were all grown up and in Rini and Cale's time, living in Crystal Tokyo as the Royal Family, none of them would agree on how things happened the way that they did. Serena insisted that Hotaru was coming to help them while Chris maintained that the tie between the Sailor Scouts brought Saturn out from her shell.

As for Anna . . . well, she was certain that her calling her not as Anna Ryder or Sailor Selene, but as Princess Annalise, the lost Moon Princess, had something to do in it. But she figured that it was probably all three.

Whatever the reason, as Hotaru and Mistress Nine fought for control of her body, the symbol that had glowed on Hotaru's forehead the first time that Anna had seen her, glowed bright purple. Anna felt anticipation surge through her as Mistress Nine screamed in pain and agony and the body was decimated and vanished on the spot.

"H—Hotaru!" her father gasped, obviously distraught at what had happened to his little girl. Anna glanced towards where she knew her son was, somehow knowing how she would feel if something happened to him.

"The Sailor Scout of Destruction!" Uranus exclaimed, looking horror-stricken at the place where she had stood. "Saturn."

Anna stood up, looking towards her sister and future husband. "Now what?" she asked despairingly.

Chris shook his head, looking anxiously towards the portal. "I don't know," he admitted. His green eyes flew towards Cale for a minute and Anna turned, seeing the kid about to climb out from where he'd be hiding at. "Cale, you stay where you are."

"But, Dad—"

"Listen to your father, Cale," Anna warned him, wishing that she'd had the chance to get him out of there before. But then again, was anyplace else safer than right here?

Cale looked disappointed, but retreated back into his hiding place. Anna sighed, glancing at Chris. "_Your_ son," he muttered dryly. She could only smile dryly at the comment.

"Takes two," she said calmly just as a blast took out the statue where Uranus and Neptune were currently held prisoner. "Are you two all right?" she inquired, hurrying over to help the two elder Scouts to their feet.

"No, I am not all right!" Uranus practically snapped at her. She flinched back. "After all that we've been there, none of it made any difference."

"It's the end," Neptune whispered, her voice filled with tears and emotion, not looking at any of them.

Uranus looked at Serena, who was on her knees, staring at the portal helplessly. "Sailor Moon, are you happy now?" she demanded. "ANSWER ME!" she screamed when Serena said nothing. With a cry, she sank to the ground and Anna glanced at the two.

"No, it's not," she said firmly. Everyone looked at her. "It's _not_ the end, not yet. We didn't come all this way just to give up now." She stood up. "It might be hopeless, but I'm still going to fight. The enemy hasn't won yet. We can still beat them, if we pull our strengths. All of us . . . the power of the planets and the Moon together. That's what Scout power really is, you know? The unity of all the planets combined. How are we supposed to be fighting a great enemy if we can't even stop fighting amongst ourselves?" She took a deep breath, looking at them. "Serena, you know as well as I do what will happen if we just give up now. I can't do that. That little girl has too much to live for. Besides that, I can't turn my back on family. And Amara, Michelle, you guys have fought to protect a world that is the last hope for this universe. But . . . how can you just give up, here and now? We have to keep fighting, even if it's the last battle that we ever fight." She took Chris's hand, feeling his strength swarm into her. "We have to bring one last note of glory to the Moon Kingdom."

"Well spoken, Lady Annalise," a familiar voice said. Anna whirled around to see Sailor Saturn standing before her. "And thank you for calling me forth. You always did know when I was needed." She smiled and turned her attention towards an awestruck Serena. "And Sailor Moon, I know it was you who prevented me from getting hurt and I wanted to thank you for that."

"Sailor Saturn?" Michelle whispered, staring at the Scout in front of them.

"And Hotaru?" Serena breathed.

"Hotaru?" Dr. Tomoe asked, pushing himself up to look at his daughter, but she was shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, but I am no longer Hotaru," she explained. Anna was hardly surprised; the girl who stood before her didn't even sound like the little girl who was such good friends with her niece. Instead, she sounded like the friend that she had known long ago, on the Moon. "But I am the one person alive who can save the world from destruction. Believe in me."

"Wait!" Serena had stood up, attempting to join Hotaru. "Let me help you." Anna only had to take one look at the scene in front of her, at the evil that was so desperately trying to invade Earth, and knew that this was beyond Serena's or her help. They could do no good here.

"No." Saturn obviously agreed, though she was grateful for the offer of help. "To destroy Pharaoh 90, I must get into the very heart of its core and destroy it while I'm still inside. You, as Super Sailor Moon, could have helped, but you did the right thing giving up your powers to save me. It's impossible for you to even get _near_ Pharaoh 90. It's a difficult task, but I'm glad to do it."

Serena swallowed, but nodded. "But . . . but what will happen to you once you destroy Pharaoh 90, Sailor Saturn?"

Her purple eyes were sad, but determined as they looked at Serena. "They call me the Sailor Scout of Destruction, only because I possess powers which could destroy a planet. They fear me, but once I use my powers, I will be destroyed." As she held up her hand, the glaive that Anna remembered appeared in her hand.

"NO!" both sisters shouted and Chris had to rush forward and grab Anna from behind. Serena was prevented when Saturn pointed the glaive at her, stopping her in her tracks.

With one last glance at Anna, Saturn whispered, "Thank you, my old friend, lost and found. Things worked out for the both of us. You found your family and I found friendship here on Earth. We both got what we wanted."

Anna felt like crying. "But at what cost?"

Saturn only smiled faintly. "Goodbye," she said, speaking to all of them now. "And thank you!"

With a giant leap, she jumped backwards, straight into the evil sphere that was starting to form. Anna clung to Chris, feeling his arms wrap around her as she stared at the place where Saturn had disappeared. Meanwhile, sitting on the ground, Serena was screaming the words that she used to transform into Super Sailor Moon.

"Moon Crisis Power Transform!" she shouted, but of course without the Purity Chalice, they did no good.

Cale suddenly appeared beside his mother and she bent down, picking him up and hoisting him onto her hip. He was probably a little old to be held like this, but he didn't seem to mind, staring at his aunt with helplessness.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" he asked, looking up at his parents. "There's got to be something to help Saturn, isn't there? Mom? Dad?"

Anna glanced at Chris. "Sailor Saturn was the Sailor Scout of Destruction—or Death—as well as Rebirth. And the Moon was the bright light in the night sky. It gave the people on Earth hope when the darkness fell, it was there to give some brightness to the night."

"So, maybe we can save Saturn if one of you goes inside?" Cale suggested. "What, Dad, it's true!" he insisted when Chris gave him a stern look.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we have to send your mother or your aunt deliberately into danger."

"We're already in danger, Chris," Anna pointed out. "But we all heard Sailor Saturn, none of us can get close to Pharaoh 90 with our average Sailor powers. We would have to become Super Sailor Scouts in order to get into it. I've barely become a Scout as it is. It would have to be Serena." The family looked at the crying princess on the ground, trying desperately to transform.

"Do you think that there's a way?" Chris asked, glancing at his future wife for answers she did not have. She shrugged, glancing up at the damaged ceiling of the building. Tonight, there was no moon. She hated the dark side of the Moon, because it brought no light to them.

But tonight . . . they would have to create their own. Passing the Stone back to Chris, who took it with a confused look on his face. "We have to create our own light for Serena," she whispered. "I'll create the light, you two combine hope of the past and future."

"Is this going to work?" Cale wanted to know, looking hopefully up at his mother, who shrugged.

"I don't know, sweetheart, I don't have any answers," she admitted. She wasn't going to lie to him. She never did master the ability to lie. And seeing as she raised him, he would probably know her even better than her brothers did. "All we can do is try."

She stepped forward, Cale on her left side, holding her hand and Chris on her right, his hand gripping hers. His face was pale, undoubtedly worried about all of them and their future.

"Selene Moonlight!" As Anna spoke the words, she felt the light brimming within her, expanding within her. It flowed through the young princess and into her future husband and son before pouring into the Stones that lay into their hands.

The brilliant silver light expanded and flowed through the room. She could feel Uranus and Neptune watching her and their power joined hers, along with Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. Their planet power joined Anna's moon power and combined.

Every colour of every form swirled into the light that Anna had created. No longer a mere silver, but almost every colour anyone could imagine. Red, blue, green, yellow, cyan, among others swirled into one, spinning so fast that it made Anna dizzy just looking at it.

"Mom, what's happening?" Cale whispered, but she shook her head, too stunned to speak.

The lights flowed over Serena, who took no notice of it as the disappeared into her tiara. She lifted her tearstained face and screamed out in desperation, "Moon Crisis . . . Power!"

This time, the transformation worked and the simple Sailor Scout transformed into Super Sailor Moon. Anna held her breath as Serena, realising what had occurred, stood up and went charging into the portal, going to save Hotaru and perhaps Sailor Saturn.

Hoisting her son up again, Anna leaned against Chris, who wrapped his arms around Anna and Cale, holding them tightly. Anna closed her eyes, trying to use the connection that she held with Serena, but she couldn't even sense her sister.

The portal began screaming and with a huge burst of energy it was shot away from Earth, disappearing from sight. Only what was left of the school stood where Pharaoh 90 had once stood. The family stood, waiting for a miracle and Anna gripped harder onto her son and future husband.

"Where is she?" she whispered.

Chris shook his head, trying to give her some comfort when Uranus spoke. "Is she the real sovereign?" she asked softly. No one spoke, not even Neptune, to answer her question.

"Serena," Anna whispered, about to give up on her sister coming back. It had been too long . . . she was gone. Her sister was gone before she even had the chance to get to know her. Her throat constricted and she blinked back tears as she turned away, wanting to get away from this place. It hadn't caused anything but pain and now . . .

Now her sister, too, was gone and Rini along with her. After all, Rini was her daughter from the future. If Serena was gone, then so was Rini.

"Mom, look!" Cale exclaimed, pulling himself from her arms. Anna looked towards her son, before following his gaze and seeing the rainbow butterflies that were flying down and circling around to form the silhouette of Sailor Moon, holding a bundle of blankets in her arms.


	16. Choosing Between Two Families

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Sixteen: Choosing Between Two Families

"Aunt Serena!" Cale yelled joyfully and raced towards his aunt, an ecstatic look on his face. Anna raced after him, Chris at her heels, as Serena fell to her knees, unable to support herself any longer. Uranus and Neptune were behind them, all crowding around Serena.

Anna gasped as she saw the bundle of blankets in her arms, spotting the infant girl in her arms. "Hotaru," she breathed in a mixture of amazement and disbelief. "The Sailor Scout of Destruction and Rebirth." She was speaking more to herself than to anyone else.

"Help me," Serena croaked. Anna lifted the baby out from her arms.

"Is she all right?" Uranus demanded, looking concerned as she glanced down at the baby in Anna's arms. Serena looked up at Anna as she cradled the baby, soothing her.

"She's fine," Anna replied. She squatted down at Serena. "Are you all right, sister? You had me scared for a minute there." Serena nodded and Anna passed baby Hotaru to Neptune. "Take care of her," she told the older Scout and hugged her sister tightly. "I thought I lost you," she whispered in her sister's ear.

Serena, trembling slightly, wrapped her arms around her sister and the twins clung to each other. Anna was close to tears when she realised that Neptune and Uranus had vanished with baby Hotaru.

"Sailor Moon! Sailor Selene!" Anna looked around as she saw the other four Scouts were running towards them. Blinking back tears, she drew away from her sister and allowed the Scouts to help them both up. Jupiter was looking horrified at the state that the two sisters were in.

"Don't worry about me, I'm all right," she assured her. "It's Serena that needs help." Jupiter nodded and went over to help her friend.

"I've never seen her this weak before, be gentle, guys," Mercury whispered as Serena was lifted up, too exhausted to attempt to get up by herself. Anna was hoisted up by Chris, who held her tightly and Anna smiled at him, relieved that it was over.

"We're here for you, Sailor Moon," Jupiter told her. "You just rest now, all right?" Serena made no answer, however; she was out like a light.

It was a long and tiring journey back to Darien's apartment. Anna just wanted to go back to bed, but she was worried about Rini, not sure what had happened to her. She was equally worried about Uranus and Neptune and baby Hotaru. Where _had_ all of them gone? They couldn't have just disappeared!

"Mom, are you okay?" Cale asked, looking up at her as he held her hand as they walked with the other Scouts.

"Yeah, just tired." She glanced at Chris, who gave her a knowing smile, and wrapped an arm around her reassuringly. "I guess I'm worried about Rini, too. We did get her heart crystal back, didn't we?"

"Sailor Saturn returned it, I think," Cale said cheerfully. "That's what you told me in the future, anyway. When she broke free of Mistress Nine's hold, she went to Rini and returned the heart crystal." He was stumbling over his feet slightly and his green eyes were slightly drowsy.

"Kids," Chris said with a smile and bent down, lifting their son up onto his hip. Cale laid his head onto his father's shoulders as his parents walked together with the Scouts towards his uncle's apartment. He was out before they had reached the next block.

"And just think, a month ago, I was worried about starting a new school," Anna said dryly. "Now, I've got a twin sister from another lifetime, a secret identity as a superhero, my husband from my past life, and a son from the future."

The other Scouts laughed. "You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Raye said, smirking. All of them had transformed into their civilian clothing as they headed towards Darien's.

"No, not bad, just complicated." Anna reached up and stroked her sleeping son's hair as they entered the apartment building, heading into the elevator. She noted with a small smile that they had attracted the attention of the people heading out.

Her amusement faded, however, when they returned to Darien's apartment. He was on the bed next to a sleeping Rini, who hadn't woken up just yet, but she was breathing and the colour in her face was a healthy and vivid blush.

"Thank goodness," Anna breathed. "She's all right?" she directed at her future brother-in-law, who nodded, his attention drawn to Serena, who was waking up.

Immediately, he was at his future wife's side. "What happened to her?" he asked, his tone filled with a mixture of fear and concern. Anna relayed the events of that evening as Lita laid Serena down next to Rini.

Anna glanced towards Chris, who had laid Cale down as she had explained what had happened. She walked over to the two most important men in her life and sat down next to her husband, sitting down next to him. "This is pretty unreal, isn't it?" she asked him.

"More unreal than anything else that's been happening?" Chris asked with a grin. "Believe me, this is no more bizarre than anything else. But I wouldn't have it any other way."

With a small smile, Anna leaned in against him. "Chris?" she asked. "How did you transform into the Silver Knight? I mean, how'd you know how to do it? Did you have some sort of transforming tool or something?"

Chris shook his head. "Your mother came," he said quietly. Anna froze, her mind wrapping around his words. "Queen Serenity. She came to me when I was heading towards the school after you guys and helped me to transform." He let out a sigh. "She told me how sorry she was for what she'd done on the Moon and that she'd made some changes in your life to ensure that we would find each other again."

"What do you mean, she ensured it?" Anna shook her head. "How could she make sure of such a thing?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it's a good thing. She said you're going to have to make a choice of whether to continue down this path as Princess Annalise or just be plain Anna Ryder." He stared at her quietly and she could see the question in his eyes.

Anna rested her head onto his shoulder and she felt his head droop down onto hers. "You know that no matter what lifetime, I would choose you, Chris," she whispered. "I love you and I'm not turning my back on us or our son." They both looked at Cale, fast asleep beside him. "I couldn't imagine not having either one of you in my life. It's a life that I wouldn't want, that I couldn't survive. You're my life, my reason for being, and there's no way that I'm giving that up. We've been given the wondrous gift of a second chance together, Chris, and I'm not letting anything get in the way of that."

Chris grinned broadly and drew her close. "I was hoping that you were going to say that," he said, drawing her into a long and passionate kiss. "We're meant to be together."

"Always and forever."

--

"Hello, anybody home?" Anna called as she closed the door behind her and Cale, looking around at the empty foyer. "Mom? Ben? Will? Anybody here?" She heard voices in the kitchen and headed towards there, frowning.

After Rini had woken up, Anna had decided to go back home with Cale, who was going to stay in the past for awhile. She had said that he needed as much normality as possible, apparently.

"M—Anna, where is everybody?" Cale asked, almost slipping up and calling her 'Mom', which as much as she liked hearing him call her that, didn't think it was a good idea.

"I don't know." She entered the kitchen and almost immediately stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her mother and brothers sitting at the table, talking with a man who had looked up the moment that she entered. The blood drained from her face, unable to believe her eyes. Cale peered around his mother, frowning at the scene that he saw in front of him and his mother's reaction to it.

"Anna, where have you been?" Ben said, turning around to look at her. "What, did you sneak out in the middle of the night? Look who showed up this morning," he added without waiting for an explanation. He was grinning wildly at his sister. "Dad's back!"

"I can see that," Anna said in a strangled voice, still staring at the man who had stood up at last, walking over to her.

"How have you been, Anna?" he asked with a broad smile. George Ryder looked the same that he did the last time she'd seen him, when she was nine years old. The same thick, blond hair as Ben with the same brown eyes and broad shoulders.

"What are you doing here?" The harsh words came out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Her father's face fell slightly as he saw her angry expression and he took a step back.

"I came here to see you and your brothers," he said honestly, but he knew that this encounter wasn't going to go as well as he had obviously hoped for. Or probably as well as it had gone with the rest of her family.

"After five years?" Anna snapped, unable to stop the angry words from rising through her throat. "How _dare_ you come back here? How could you come back here after five years of silence, of not knowing what had happened, of where you were?"

"Anna, I—"

"You didn't know where we were, you didn't even know if we were alive!" Anna yelled. "We could've _died_, we could've starved to death for all you knew! And you just show up out of the blue and expect to be welcomed back with open arms?"

"Hey, sis, just chill, all right?" Will said, getting between them. "It's not so bad as all that. We weren't so bad off and Dad's gonna make it right now. We're leaving Tokyo and moving back home. Dad's got a place all set up for us and we'll be going back to our old school. Isn't that great?"

"What?!" Anna wasn't the only one who had yelled at that response. Cale, too, had been unable to hold in his shock and fury at those words.

Ben looked towards his sister and frowned at the kid who was hiding behind her. "Hey, Anna, who's the kid?" he asked.

"I'm not a kid!" Cale said angrily. "And you can't take her away! She belongs here!"

"She belongs with her family, little boy!" Will snarled at him. "And I'm really failing to see what business this is of yours. This is between us and our sister, not you."

"Don't talk to him like that!" Anna shouted, her anger thumping in her ears. "Don't you dare—"

"Or what?"

"Enough!" Their mother had stood up at last and was staring between her three children in annoyance. "Listen, all three of you. This is a joyous occasion. Your father has come back and we're moving back home. We're going to celebrate and then start packing."

"I'm not going anywhere," Anna said firmly. Everyone looked at her. "This is my home and I belong here. I have friends for the first time in my life. People I can count on, which is more than I can say for this family. I won't go back to that place you call a home. I'm not going anywhere," she repeated, backing away from them. "I'm staying here. Staying home."

Without another word to any of them, she turned her back and ran away with Cale right behind her, to the one place she could call home.


	17. Missing Scouts

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seventeen: Missing Scouts

"I'm gonna stay over here at Serena's for awhile, okay?" Anna said into the phone as she tugged a strand of her brown hair. "At least until all of this blows over."

"Yeah, well, I don't know if we're going to be able to fight on this one," Chris said doubtfully on the other end. "Villains, we can fight. But your dad coming back after five years? I don't know if we're going to be able to do anything about this one."

"I'm _not_ leaving," Anna said stubbornly. "Chris, I am staying right here with you and the other Scouts. It's where I belong."

"You know that, I know that, the Scouts know that, but we're going to have a hard time explaining that to your earth family," Chris replied. He paused. "You know, this may be the thing that your mother was talking about, about having to choose—"

"Yeah, that thought already crossed my mind," Anna said. "Listen, it's been a long day, I really need some sleep."

"Yeah, between battles against evil beings and battles with the family, you got to be tired," Chris said dryly. Anna chuckled. "I talk to you in the morning, okay? Good night."

"Good night," Anna said. "And Chris?" She paused before she said the next few words. The words that were engraved into her heart. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Chris said softly. "Good night, Anna. Go to bed." It was more of an order than a request, but she didn't care. As she replaced the phone into the receiver, she glanced around as Serena came into the room in her bedclothes.

"Thanks for letting me stay here again," Anna said as she curled up onto the camp bed that the Tsukinos had set up for her. "I didn't know where else to go except for Chris's, but I didn't think his dad would be too keen on a girl showing up at his doorstep at eight in the morning, looking for his fifteen-year-old son."

Serena giggled at the thought, but turned serious. "No problem. What are sisters for, anyway?"

"To kill each other?"

"Besides that," Serena replied dryly as she sat down next to Anna on the bed. "Rini's sound asleep, thank goodness. I think after the past day's events, she needs the rest."

"Yeah, Cale too. Sure your mom's up for the two of us staying here?" Anna said. Serena nodded. "Serena, you're my sister, okay, but you and I know that Cale and I can't stay here. You've got a full house with Rini here. Even if I am able to stay here when my family leaves, I don't know where I'll be able to live at."

"Don't think about that," Serena snapped. "You're staying at my house and that's final. I'm the older sister, remember?"

"Yeah, by only . . . what, Luna? Two minutes?" she asked, glancing over at the cat who was by the window, staring out.

"One minute," Luna answered, turning to look at her. "You were born a minute after Serena was. And you were so small and fragile that it's no wonder that Queen Serenity believed her husband that you had died at birth. Everyone believed it, except for the King and the servant that he sent to take you to Tristan. Apart from them, no one else knew of your existence until the time of the King's death."

Anna chuckled slightly, leaning back. "You know what's kind of funny? I'm sort of glad that I hadn't been raised in the palace and that our father sent me away because he was scared of us feuding over the kingdom. Because if he hadn't, then I never would've met Chris and we wouldn't have Cale in the future."

Serena smiled. "I guess that's one way of looking at it, but I would've loved to have had a sister. Having a brother gets real annoying after awhile."

"Well, Rini's sort of like a sister to you now, isn't she?" Anna pointed out. "You two certainly act like them at times."

"HEY!"

"Girls!" Mrs. Tsukino called from downstairs. "Quiet down, please. You two should be getting ready for bed."

Both sisters look at each other and Anna smiled slightly. "I'm gonna go check on the kids," Anna said, standing up. "Then I think we both should hit the sack."

"Check on them?" Serena asked, looking surprised. "Whatever for?"

Anna smiled slightly. "Let's just call it a maternal instinct, all right?" she said with a shrug. "Don't you get them with Rini sometimes?" She walked out before her sister could answer, climbing the stairs to the attic and opening the door to her niece's room, peering into the room.

Rini was sound asleep on her bed, her covers curled around her shoulders, her chest rising and falling as she slept on. Cale was sitting next to her in a chair, looking worried as he watched her. He looked around at his mother as she entered the room.

"Sweetheart, it's almost ten o'clock at night, you should be in bed," Anna told him. "Rini's fine, you don't need to be hovering over her day and night. The heart snatchers are gone."

"Yeah, along with Amara and Michelle," Cale muttered darkly, but allowed his mother to guide him towards the camp bed set up for him. He climbed into it, looking up at Anna. "Mom?"

"Yeah, sweetie?" Anna asked, glancing behind her to make sure that no one was listening. From her own experience with brothers, she wouldn't put it past Serena's brother Sammy to be spying on them.

"Rini's worried about where Hotaru's gone to," Cale said, biting his lip. "She doesn't think that she'll ever see her again. Where do you think she could have gone? I mean . . ." He sighed, shaking his head. "She's a baby now, so what's gonna happen to her?"

Anna sighed. "Cale, I wish I knew. All I really know about Hotaru is that she was brought back as a baby and Amara and Michelle took her someplace safe. I trust that they did that. They know that Serena saved Hotaru, not just from destruction, but from becoming Sailor Saturn as well. She's returned from the past to start over, as a baby. I don't know what's going to happen to her."

"Yeah," Cale said as he laid down on the camp bed. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried." He sighed. "I'm sorry about your dad coming back, Mom. I know that you're not exactly his biggest fan."

With a small smile, Anna kissed his forehead gently. "It's all right, sweetheart. Besides, I don't think that he was all to blame when he left, anyway." She had the feeling that Queen Serenity had told her earth father to leave, so that she could come to Tokyo and meet her husband, sister, and friends in this lifetime.

And it had obviously worked, because here she was, sitting next to her future son and niece, her sister downstairs, and her husband across town, worrying about her.

"Stop worrying about it, okay?" Anna told him. "Just get some sleep. After the past few days, I think we could all use a good night's sleep." She pulled the covers over her son. "Good night, sweetheart."

"Night, Mom." Anna glanced over at him at the door as she turned out the light, wondering how she could've gotten here so fast. It seemed like just a few weeks ago that she was trying to figure out what her reoccurring dream meant.

"Oh, wait," Anna muttered to herself as she left the room. "That _was_ a few weeks ago."

With a small smile on her face, Anna headed towards the room she was sharing with her sister, tiredness wearing her down. She was out as soon as she laid down on the camp bed.

--

The sun was shining brightly through Serena's window when Anna woke up. It wasn't exactly early, but it was sure bright. She blinked as she heard the door open and Mrs. Tsukino walked into the room, careful not to wake Serena as she saw Anna awake.

"Anna," she whispered softly, "your father's on the phone. He wants to talk to you." With a small sigh, Anna pushed aside the blankets, her nightdress flowing around her as she followed Serena's mom out of the room, down the stairs, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she said in a dead sort of voice.

"Anna," her father said gently. "Thanks for taking the call and not hanging up on me." Making a face, Anna wondered how he knew that she was thinking about doing that. "Listen, I don't blame you for being mad at me. And I know why you want to stay. I'm just asking you to talk to me, face-to-face. You can bring your friends if you want, but your mother and brothers won't be there. This is something that we need to talk to each other about, before things get any worse with this family."

With a small sigh, Anna glanced upstairs. Serena, Anna, and the Scouts had all agreed to go down to the school later and try and find any clues for the outer Scouts and Hotaru. But she had to admit, she probably needed to do something about her family, too.

"Anna?" Her father was actually pleading for her to say something. "Just meet me, please. Your friends, too, if you want, just as long as you come."

Giving in, Anna said quietly, "Fine, but it's going to have to be later in the day. I have to do something with them in a bit and I don't know how long it's going to take. How's six?"

"Six is good," her father said, relieved. "I can meet you at six. Where did you want to meet at? There's supposed to be a good restaurant by the—"

"No restaurant," Anna said firmly. "No dinner, just talk. The docks, on the far end. I'll be there."

"All right," her father sighed. "Thank you." Rather than answer him, Anna hung up the phone in the receiver, glancing towards Mrs. Tsukino, who was cooking in the kitchen. She still wasn't sure, even now, that this was a good idea.

"Thanks for letting Cale and I stay here, Mrs. Tsukino," she said politely. "Did you need any help?"

Mrs. Tsukino brightened. "You like cooking?" she asked, looking over at her. Anna nodded. "Well, then, grab an apron and come over here. I always welcome a hand."

"Except with Serena, right?" Anna said jokingly. She'd already been exposed to experience with Serena's cooking. She didn't know how Darien could stomach it. He was just too kind sometimes, she thought as she grabbed an apron and started helping Mrs. Tsukino with the pancakes for that morning.

It was almost ten o'clock before Anna and Serena headed out to meet the Scouts at what was left of Mugan. Cale went with Rini to her school picnic, posing as a friend from out of town.

"Find anything?" Anna asked over an hour later as she returned, slightly disappointed, to the others.

They had an equally disappointed look on their faces as they shook their heads. Amy had her computer out and typing away, but the scanners were coming up with nothing. The passage to the other dimension had been blocked when the enemy was vanquished.

"I was so sure that we'd be able to find something about Hotaru here," Mina sighed. Raye glanced over to where Serena was sitting, looking distressed and distraught as she stared gloomily ahead.

"Boy, is she ever acting like the Queen of Dumps-ville," she complained, heading over to where the princess was sitting at. "Serena, come on, you got to cheer up. You did all that you could." Serena looked at her. "At least Hotaru is still _alive_."

"Alive and taken to who knows where?" Serena replied. "And my Sailor Scouts too. I'm—"

"Say that you're a failure and I'll personally give you a nose job," Anna threatened. All of the Scouts looked at her, amused. "Listen, Serena, I was there and there wasn't anything that any of us could have done. They vanished as soon as I gave Hotaru to Michelle. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

"It's not yours," Lita assured her. "You were trying to help Serena; you didn't know Michelle would take Hotaru and her and Amara vanish."

"Maybe," Anna said, not convinced. "But the point is that we need to focus on finding them. Hotaru's safe; I doubt they'd harm a little baby. They're still Sailor Scouts."

At that moment, she heard the sound of a violin playing. She glanced around at the sound. So did Serena.

"I know that music!" she whispered, scrambling towards the source of it. "Amara! Michelle!"

"Stop where you are, Sailor Moon," Amara said and Serena stopped where she was, looking around at them.

Anna joined her sister, looking at them warily. She trusted the outer Scouts, but not at the moment. They looked angry and upset, but she had a bad feeling about what was about to happen next.

A very bad feeling.


	18. Facing Destiny

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Eighteen: Facing Destiny

Anna held her breath as Amara and Michelle told Serena exactly how they felt about her rescuing Hotaru at the risk of the world. She had come pretty close to sacrificing the entire world for one life.

"You are not worthy," Michelle told her as Serena's eyes filled with tears at their words.

"To be future Queen of the Moon Kingdom," Amara finished up for her cousin. "We won't allow it." She inclined her head towards Anna, who rooted on the spot. "If anything, it's your sister who should be the true princess. She knows that sometimes a sacrifice is necessary to save millions of lives." Amara crossed her arms. "An accident of birth switched the two of you. Anna should've been born first, not you, and then she would be the next Queen, like it should."

"But I wasn't!" Anna found her voice, though she had thought she'd be too stunned to speak after that statement. "I wasn't, Amara. For some reason, fate dictated that Serena should be born first and I happen to think that there's always a reason for everything. And for another," she added when the Sailor Scout of Uranus was about to speak, "_I_ _don't want to be the princess._" She glared at the outer two Scouts. "Besides, Serena is doing a great job at being the princess. She's got a true heart and that is what's important. Sometimes, where you go on the journey isn't important. It's how you get there." She walked over and helped her sister to her feet. Serena looked at her. "And I believe that with time and training, she will be the queen that I know is deep inside of her. She saved that little girl's life and saved the world. Maybe not the way that you wanted it to be saved, but she did save it. And _that_ is what is important." She guided Serena back to the others, who were all looking at Michelle and Amara with dislike.

"Be that as it may, we're not leaving here until we set the record straight," Michelle replied as she stood next to her cousin, watching the inners with a calmness that Anna wondered about. "Then we're history."

"What do you mean, set the record straight?" Raye demanded. The two cousins held up their transformation sticks and Anna gasped aloud.

_They actually want to fight us,_ she realised, _to prove that Serena's incapable of being the ruler of the Moon Kingdom. They're _actually_ going to do it. _

"Bring it on, traitors!" Lita snarled as she stepped forward. "We're not afraid of you!"

"Yeah, come on, if you're so hot," Raye agreed.

"Guys, I don't think that this is such a good idea," Anna said softly, but none of them listened to her. Serena gripped her tightly and the two sisters watched as the Scouts transformed, all six of them.

"Uranus, Neptune, we have no grudge against you," Venus told them, "but we can't just let you talk trash about our Moon Princess. Even though we value both of them, we all know the right ones on the throne. Anna doesn't even want to be queen, do you?" she asked, meeting the brunette princess's eyes worriedly.

Anna shook her head. "Definitely not," she assured her. "I've got no patience for being royal."

"You see?" Mercury asked. "And Sailor Moon did the best job that she could and everyone knows it." But Serena seemed to have heard enough of all of this, as she pulled free of Anna's hold and stepped forward, looking agitated and upset.

"Guys, wait!" All of them looked towards the Moon Princess. "I don't want you to fight on account of me, okay? It's freaking me."

"See?" Uranus taunted. "Just a spineless jellyfish." Anna glared at her and she shrugged carelessly.

"Serena," Mars hissed.

"Are you just going to let them talk this trash about you?" Jupiter demanded, glancing at the twins.

"Well, one person's trash is another person's treasure," Serena pointed out. "And right now, I'm treasuring what they're saying. I do cry and whine and cave in an awful lot. I do. But still . . . I know I did the right thing. Even if Sailor Saturn was the Sailor Scout of Destruction like you said, I had to save her." She smiled through her tears. "We're all linked by the gift of planet power and I felt the warmth of her heart when I held her. She's pure sweetness," she said softly, staring down at her hands before looking up at the outers. "Uranus, Neptune, don't pick this fight."

"Give up your claim to the throne and we leave in peace," Uranus replied, unmoved by her speech.

"That's outrageous!" Luna exclaimed as the two guardian cats watched the fight from above.

"You've forced us," Uranus said calmly. "We fight until one side turns out victorious."

"If you win, which won't be the case," Neptune added, "then and _only_ then . . . are you queen." Silence met the sea scout's words and Anna took a deep breath. This was the only way. Serena had to face her destiny here and now, just like she would have to face hers later.

But right now . . . the only thing she could do was stay with her sister. Serena needed her now.

Anna hated being useless, but she realised that there was something here that she couldn't help with. Serena needed to face them to prove herself to them and end their doubts about her being the true princess. She knew that there was no doubt the right princess was on the throne.

It was a part of her destiny to be the sister of the queen, but she was no Queen herself. Anna knew it was meant to be this way. Fate had managed to ensure that she and Chris would be together and now her sister's fate was challenged, unless she could prove herself to these very stubborn, very loyal Scouts.

"Do you think that we should stop this?" Mercury whispered as the remaining Scouts, along with untransformed Anna, watched their princess battle with the two outer Scouts.

Anna shook her head firmly. "No way, Mercury," she whispered softly. "This is the one thing that she has to do on her own. She has to do this, to prove herself to them and to herself."

Mars looked sideways at the younger Moon Princess. "Do you think that she can do it?" she asked sceptically.

A trace of a smile crossed Anna's face. "I've got not doubt," she answered. "No doubt at all."

Her attention was drawn to Serena as Neptune seized her from behind, restraining her as Uranus moved in for the attack. Worry and alarm rose through her, clenching her heart; what if she was wrong? What if Serena couldn't defeat them after all?

_She can,_ a voice spoke inside of her. It sounded a lot like her, but stronger somehow. The voice that belonged not to Anna Ryder, but to Princess Annalise of the Moon Kingdom. _Don't lose faith, Annalise. She is the true ruler of the Moon Kingdom, their princess. And they will realise this. Her destiny is to become the new Queen of the Moon Kingdom, just like your destiny will unfold soon enough. _

_But what is my destiny? _

_You'll find out soon enough. _Annalise fell silent as an unearthly glow emerged from Sailor Moon, coming straight from the Silver Crystal.

Anna gasped aloud as the bright light blocked everything from them. Nobody could see what they were doing; nobody could see what was happening, who had triumphed.

And then the light slowly, but surely, faded and Sailor Moon was standing with the fallen Scouts on the ground. But they were all right, Anna thought with relief, as they stood up.

"You win, princess," they both said together, kneeling before her.

Serena looked concerned as she faced them. "Uranus, Neptune, are you both all right?" she asked.

Uranus nodded. "Yes, Your Highness," she said quietly.

"We pledge your allegiance to you," Neptune said. Neither one were looking up at Serena. "You have proven your worth beyond doubt, in the end."

"Please accept our pledge of honour, future Queen Serenity," Uranus said. Serena looked confused and she glanced sideways at Anna, who smiled, sensing her sister's confusion, and nodded once. They'd only needed her to prove that she was the right princess; their loyalty was tied to Serena, not to her. It never had been.

"Yes," Serena said, her gaze returning to the outers. "But the end?"

"We could not leave this place without knowing who our leader truly was," Neptune explained.

"Now we have uncovered the true sovereign and saved our future. If you'll allow us, we would like to continue our journey," Uranus said.

Serena stared at them, bewilderment in her eyes. "The true sovereign?" she echoed. "Well, who was it, finally?"

Both of the outer Sailors stood up, looking at their queen in the eye for the first time. "Someone very down to earth," Uranus replied.

"Who sees goodness where others do not and lights the way for them to follow," Neptune, as always, finished up her cousin's sentence. Both of them bowed and walked away. "Goodbye, Your Highness."

Anna and the Scouts joined Serena as she watched them go. "Uranus, Neptune," Jupiter said, but Anna shook her head.

"Let them go," she said simply. "Their destiny lies upon a different path; they must go to continue to protect the world from evil as we do here." Anna smiled slightly. "But what about Hotaru?"

"Oh, yeah!" Serena looked back at the departing Scouts. "You guys, one last thing, before you leave town. What happened to Hotaru? Is she going to be all right now?"

Uranus looked back at them and Anna detected a small glimmer of a smile that drifted across the Sailor Scout's face. "I'm sure that you'll meet again," she said in a cryptic way. But at the same time, it was reassuring, telling them that they'd cared for her.

"You did take care of her!" Serena looked happy. All of them smiled. "Thank you, Sailors. I can't wait to tell Rini, she'll be so glad!"

Anna hugged her sister and the scouts all joined in a group hug as Uranus and Neptune left, leaving them to fight evil here in Tokyo alone, but forever loyal to them. If ever they needed help, then the outer Scouts could be called upon to help them.

--

It was ten until six when Anna finally managed to reach the docks. After Serena and the girls had gone back home, to tell Rini and Cale the good news, Anna had realised just how late it was getting and had to get to the docks straight away, before she was late. Darien had offered to drive her, but she declined, knowing this way something she had to alone.

He was waiting for her patiently, sitting on one of the benches as he scanned the streets, looking for her. Anna took a deep breath before coming into view, walking calmly towards her father.

The moment that her footsteps tapped against the floorboards, he looked around at her, relieved. "I was starting to think that you weren't going to show up," he remarked.

"Trust me, it seemed like a good idea." Anna folded her arms across her chest, watching him coolly. "So, what exactly did you want to talk to me about, George?"

As she used his first name, he flinched so violently that it was as if she had reached out and struck him, but otherwise he made no reaction. "I just want you to listen to me for a moment," he said quietly. "Listen to me without interruption and then afterwards you can yell or scream or do whatever you want. I won't stop you."

Anna stared at him, completed her journey across the platform, and took a seat on one of the benches, placing her hands in her lap to give him her undivided attention.

"Thank you," George said with a smile. When she didn't smile back, he sighed. "Anna, listen, I know that you're angry with me and you have every right to be, but you have to understand some things. My leaving was not of my own free will, sweetheart. If I'd had a choice, then I would've been with you every step of the way.

"But five years ago, something happened, something so remarkable and impossible that I hardly believed it. Five years ago, I was sitting in my office, doing my work when there was this beautiful light that emerged. Like moonlight, it seemed like." He looked lost in thought for a moment. "I was entranced; it was as though time had stopped for a moment. And then, when the moonlight faded, a woman had appeared before me."

Her heart skipped a beat. "A woman?" she echoed, her thoughts drifting towards Queen Serenity for a moment. "What did she look like?"

"She looked a lot like you," George answered, sighing. "But different. She was like a goddess, I thought, from the way she glowed with light surrounding her. This woman had the same brown hair as you and the same sky-blue eyes, but her hair was tied up in pearls, pulled back by a braid. And she was the most beautiful gown that I'd ever seen. It was made of satin, pure white that it glowed like the moon and flowed around her like a waterfall. The sleeves on the gown were see-through and decorated with hearts and crescent moons. And she was a long, silver cape that had a locket clasped at the neck." He glanced down at the locket that was buttoned onto Anna's dress. "That one, in fact."

Anna frowned slightly; that woman definitely wasn't Queen Serenity, but she was definitely from the Moon Kingdom. She had to be, but who could she be? Perhaps a relative of hers and Serena's?

Making a mental note to ask Luna about it later, Anna asked softly, "What did she come to you for? What did she say?"

"She told me that there was a great evil that threatened to destroy this world and you were the key to destroying it," George sighed. "I was scared of that, Anna, but she said that you would survive, if you met the people that were going to help you stop it. Darkness would approach, but only you could stop it, for it was your destiny. If I wanted you to survive, I had to leave so your mother would have no choice but to leave to go to Tokyo." He smiled vaguely. "And it must've worked. You're choosing to stay here, quite determinedly, I might add."

"These people have become close to a family than I've had in five years," Anna said sharply. "Even if this is true, that doesn't mean that you had to leave. You could've moved us here—"

"I perhaps could have," George agreed. "But things might not have turned out the way that they were supposed to." He sighed. "Your mother and brothers want to go back home, Anna, it wouldn't be fair to them to force them to stay any more than it would be fair to force you to leave."

Anna's heart skipped a beat. Did he mean . . .

"Look, I don't understand what's happening here, nor do I pretend to, because I know I'll never be able to understand who or what you are," George said softly. "But I do know that I won't force you to leave. If you want to stay here, then you can stay. All you have to do is make your own choice. The only request that I have is that during the winter holidays, you come and stay with us. Unless duty called, of course," he added with a hesitant smile. "I'll pay for an apartment—"

"My friend Raye Hino offered me a room at her family's temple," Anna said, waving him off. "I'd rather stay there."

"Raye Hino?" her father repeated. "Would this be Matthew Hino's daughter?" He looked interested and Anna nodded, remembering what Raye had told her about her father.

When Anna had explained the situation to the fire scout, she had immediately told Anna that she was welcome to a room at the temple. They had plenty of room and it wasn't that far away from Anna's own school. Anna asked her why and Raye told her about her own father. Apparently, he wasn't around very much when her mother had been sick and died. He'd left her with her grandfather and only contacted her once a month, when they had lunch dates so he could keep up a political campaign and prove he was a good father.

"I hate him for it," she told Anna coldly. "Anyway, you're welcome to stay here, for as long as possible."

"Well, then I have absolutely no protests," he said with a smile. "I'll go talk to Raye and her grandfather to work out some kind of arrangement before we leave in a week."


	19. Revelations

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Nineteen: Revelations

Ben helped Anna carry the last of her stuff into the room that Raye had reserved for her at the temple. "Well, I guess that's everything, then," he remarked as he set them on the floor. "You know, maybe you just keep it all here, eh? With all the moving around that you've been doing, you should probably just keep it all in boxes." He smiled wanly at her annoyed look. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Kind of, sort of."

"Are both you and Will mad at me for staying here?" Anna asked as she turned to face her older brothers. Ben stayed silent. "I'm sorry, okay, but I belong here, Ben. I've never felt like that anywhere else. Serena and the girls, they're my friends. Chris and Cale are my family and they always will be. I can't forget that." She reached up and forced him to look at her. "But you guys will always have a place in my heart. We'll see each other again."

"Will we?" Ben pulled away and walked over to the window, staring out of it gloomily. Anna wondered what he meant by that as he turned around to face her again.

"How much of this," he said softly, "has to do with your dreams?" Anna hesitated, but looked down. "Anna, you and I have always been closer than Will and I have. We've trusted each other with stuff that we could never tell anyone else. Why can't you tell me what's going on?" He looked at her so intently that Anna felt it hard to hold her brother's gaze.

"Because I don't know how much I should tell you," she replied softly. "And it's all so . . . complicated that I wouldn't know where to begin." She ran her fingers through her brown hair and looked up at her brother warily. "You really want to know?"

Ben nodded firmly. "Yes, I do," he told her, placing his hands on his hips so that he was staring her down.

Feeling as though she were going against her better judgement, Anna picked up some boxes off of the bed, set them on the floor before taking a seat on the bed, clasping her hands together as she looked up at her older brother, who stood next to her, waiting for an explanation.

"I'm not just Anna Ryder, Ben. You know how I've always been fascinated with legends of the Moon and how I always believed that there was a princess who lived there?" Ben nodded, but he looked bewildered as to why she was asking this, wondering at the relevance of the topics. "Well, that's because I am one. My true identity is Annalise, Princess of the Moon Kingdom. Those dreams were of the Moon Kingdom when it was attacked by an evil force and destroyed. My mother, Queen Serenity, used the last of her power to send my sister and myself, as well as our people on the Moon, to the future on Earth. We would be reborn as humans, with no memory of the Moon Kingdom whatsoever."

"Your sister?"

"The future Queen of the Moon Kingdom. Her name is Princess Serena," Anna explained. Ben's eyes widened. "And that's not all. Here on Earth, I was forced to adapt another incarnation in order to fight evil that would attack and threaten the people here. I am a Sailor Scout of the Moon, Sailor Selene. Serena is Sailor Moon and our friends are the other Sailor Scouts."

"Are you serious?" Ben's eyes were wide with shock, then he shook his head. "I guess there's no way that you could make this up. People were talking about a new Scout having appeared, but no one knew her name. Sailor Selene . . . where did you come up with that name?" He was smirking slightly as he watched his sister, but it was more of interest than in disbelief.

"It was the name of one of my ancestors, Selene," Anna said calmly and Ben grinned. She smiled. "And it just came to me, in a dream. Ever since we came here, the memories have started flowing back, more and more strongly. You know that guy I've been hanging out with lately, Chris?" He nodded. "He was actually my husband back on the Moon. We were secretly married right before the attack."

"Jeez." Ben sat down next to her. "Wait a minute . . . if Chris is your husband, then who is this little kid that's been hanging around you lately? What's his name, Cale?"

"I'm not a kid!" Cale had arrived in the room, looking extremely annoyed at his uncle. "I'm seven years old!"

Anna burst out laughing and Ben grinned slightly, looking at Anna quickly. "Ben," she said through her giggles, anticipating her brother's reaction, "this is my son Cale, from the future."

Ben's smile vanished and he gawked at Cale as her son smirked and scrambled up to join his mother and uncle on the bed. "Your _son_?" he echoed, looking stunned. "Your _son_?!"

"Yep," Anna said cheerfully.

"What else are you hiding? A magic crystal? Some supernatural abilities that I'm otherwise unaware of?"

"Besides the ability to create moonlight, no," Anna assured him. She thought it safer not to tell him about the Stone of Love. He wouldn't understand about it, anyway. _She_ barely understood it. Her sky-blue eyes met her brother's brown ones and she smiled wanly. "Scout's honour."

"Yeah, but you're not a Girl—oh, wait. Never mind." He shook his head and she smiled at him. "You're not hiding anything else, are you?"

"Um, let's see . . . I'm a princess, a Sailor Scout, Serena is my twin sister from a past life, Chris is my husband from a past life, and Cale is my future son . . ." Anna ticked them off as she spoke them. "No, I think that pretty much covers it."

"Funny, funny girl," Ben said dryly. He stood up. "Well, I guess I should get going. Everyone's gonna start wondering where I am."

"Ben." Anna stood up as Cale scampered out of the room again, leaving his mother and uncle alone. "You're not going to tell anybody about this, are you? Mom or Dad or Will? Or anybody else?"

"Please," Ben snorted. "Mom and Dad would think I'm crazy. Well, maybe not Dad so much as Mom will. And as for our brother, he'll probably just use his lunatic brother to cause sympathy for all the girls at our old school and promote his own ratings. And who could I tell, honestly? Nobody in their right mind would believe this."

Anna considered and conceded his point. "Well, then, I guess I'll see you at Christmas," she said, hugging her brother. He hugged her back. "See you."

"See you," Ben repeated. "Stay out of trouble now." He winked at her and she smiled slightly. It was just a grasp at the past, back to what their lives had been like before their father had left and both of them knew it.

As Anna walked him out of the temple, she watched him leave, feeling a melancholy sensation rise through her. She knew that both of them were heading towards different directions, each going to a different fate. But what did fate have in store for herself? she wondered.

Luna had no idea who the woman who'd come to her father had been and had assured her that they had no other relatives other than immediate family. Before the twins, every princess on the Moon had been an only child.

"But until we know otherwise, I think we should consider this woman a friend," Luna told her. "There are other forces of good in the universe and would she have told your father to help you onto your destiny if she weren't?"

The guardian cat had a point, but that still didn't explain what the woman had meant when she said Anna had a great destiny in store for her, that she was the key to stopping a great evil. Did she mean becoming a Sailor Scout or something specific?

Anna looked down as Cale grabbed her around the waist. He grinned up at her as she smiled down at him.

"We're finally home," she murmured. And for a time, no matter how short it was, things were calm again. But everything was going to change again and Anna knew it. It would not be long before destiny took place again.

And she would face it, with her family and friends fighting right along side her. For the first time that she could remember, she felt loved and safe and cared for. She had family of the past and future and friends she could count on.

They would face the evils that threatened this world together and triumph, because good always triumphed over evil, in the end. They had love on their side and love conquered all, right to the end.

Let them come, Anna thought as mother and son walked inside the temple, their home. And we will triumph.


	20. Epilogue

**The Other Moon Princess**

by Lady Dawson

Epilogue

Anna continued to fight for justice, alongside her sister and friends, as Sailor Selene. Her strong will and courage was a credit to the Sailor Scouts. During the next five years, she continued to grow with strength and power, as did the others.

Her love for Chris continued to grow as well. They found strength and resolve within each other. Even in the darkest of hours, they could find the courage to go on by holding on to one another. It was their love for each other that kept them going.

They found strength, too, in their son. Cale grew up right in front of their eyes, becoming a strong and determined young boy, protective of his cousin and of their world. He joined the fight, using his own moon powers to aid his mother, aunt, and friends in their time of need.

It was not until seven years later, when the Earth froze over, being placed into a state of dormancy. The last thing that Anna remembered was everything going cold and dark. However, the Stone of Love was clasped between her and Chris. Cale and Rini had returned to the future a year before, all of them having known what was going to happen.

With the Stone between them, Anna and Chris were joined together, linking their minds together so that they could live together in their dream world until it was time for them to awake.

When Anna felt the power of the Moon Crystal pass over them, the Stone's power waned and she found herself lying on the floor of the Crystal Tokyo palace. Chris was next to her, in the uniform of the Silver Knight, but there was no mask to hide his face.

Anna wore the outfit that she had worn as Annalise of the Moon Kingdom, but it was different. Instead of the short sleeves that had once resided on the gown, there were long, see-through sleeves that had once been described by her father. The crescent moons and heart patterns were sewn onto the fabric and a long, silvery cape fell around her shoulders, clasped by her transformation locket.

At that moment, Anna understood everything that had happened when her father had left. It was not because of her mother that he had left their family; it was because of herself.

She had gone back into the past to warn her father about the future that prevailed for her. Somewhere, in this time and place, she would time travel to tell him to leave. And in so doing, she determined her own destiny, by manipulating the past.

Anna and Chris were married soon after, as was Darien and Serena, the King and Queen of the Earth. As the sister of the Queen, Anna was a part of the Council which oversaw the matters of state. Still, she made time for her family, especially when Cale finally came into the picture. The couple had the son that had long ago come to them from the future, as well as two other special little boys that had not.

Cale, Benny, and Tristan all grew up right alongside Rini—also known as Small Lady—in a way that their mothers had never been.

Standing outside the palace, watching her sons and niece in the gardens, Anna smiled as Chris walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her as Serenity and Endymion joined them, watching the children. "We made it, didn't we?" he said softly.

"Despite all of the hardship and the pain and the loss, I knew we would," Anna said softly, turning to look at her husband. "It may have taken us two thousand years, but we made it. All of us," she added, reaching out and taking her sister's hand.

"And that's the way it should be," Serenity agreed, looking towards her daughter and nephews.

Anna smiled. "All is well," she said softly.


End file.
